A Charmed Story 13: Freaky Friday
by crazyDFFgang
Summary: People swapping... Clans trying to reclaim their fallen members... Dates getting interrupted by demons... Nothing unusual happened today! !COMPLETE!
1. Chapter 1

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**A Charmed Story - Part Thirteen:  
Freaky Friday  
Chapter 1**

It was a beautiful, sunny and surprisingly warm Friday afternoon in San Francisco, which was in great contrast to the snowy weather from over the Christmas holidays. It had been just a couple of weeks, but now the snow that had fallen, the first in recent history, was all just a memory. A wonderful memory of snowmen and snow angels, captured for eternity on film and computer chip.  
Despite the city having been slowed down during those snowy days, it was moving at its regular pace now, people and vehicles, moving freely on the streets. And even the ice cream trucks were starting to make their rounds of the neighborhoods, enticing children of all ages to cool down with their sweet treats in the increasingly warmer weather.  
One such ice cream truck was making its way down Prescott Street, calling the children with its simple song. Chris watched it for a moment, as he and Bianca unloaded the groceries from the jeep, thinking that it seemed a little early for this since it was just the beginning of February. And he thought briefly back to those snowy days, to the snowman Wyatt had built with Tom, to shoveling the front steps with Leo and Cole. To the most wonderful Christmas he had ever had. But as the memory faded to the corner of his mind where he stored his most precious memories, the knowledge that things were getting back to normal entered his mind as Bianca handed him the last bag of food.  
Some of their neighbors were out for an afternoon walk, as Chris and Bianca ascended the front stairs of the manor. As Chris reached the door, it suddenly occurred to him that he wouldn't be able to open the door, since his hands were full.  
"Should we orb in?" Bianca asked from beside him. He took a quick look behind, to the street where a couple was walking past.  
"Better not. Too many witnesses," Chris said, then an idea came to him and he smiled. He freed a finger and aimed it at the door, using his powers to open it. He stepped aside to let Bianca go first. "After you, Darling."  
"Why thank you, Sweetheart," she replied, returning his big grin, as she entered the manor. He followed close behind, kicking the door shut with his heel.  
"Mom, we're home. We got the stuff you wanted." He called, as he and his wife brought the bags into the dining room. Everything seemed strangely quiet. He knew his mother should be home. She wasn't do to go to P3 until later.  
As they placed the bags on the dining room table, there came a thumping sound, followed closely by an explosion. They both looked at each other, the cheer they had felt slipped away only to be replaced by fear.  
"Mom!" Chris said, eyes wide, then they both run up to the attic.

& & & & &

Piper was hiding behind the couch in the attic, as another energy ball flew overhead. She'd just made it here as the barrage started. Still, she found herself with a wounded shoulder. Peering around the corner of the sofa, she tried to see where her assailants were so she could blow them up. But another energy ball whizzed by her head, making her retreat again.  
"This is getting ridiculous," she grumbled, as another energy ball slammed into the couch. Just then she heard running on the stairs and turned in time to see the attic door fly open.  
Chris and Bianca hardly had time to register what was going on when they heard Piper call to them. "Get down!" she yelled, as an energy ball sailed toward them.

& & & & &

Chris grabbed his wife's hand and pulled her down behind the couch next to Piper.  
"What's going on?" Bianca asked, covering her head, as fragments from a nearby shelf rained down on them.  
"More demons trying to make a name for themselves," Piper replied, annoyed. "We need to distract them."  
"Got it," Chris said, then orbed to the other side of the room. "Hey! Over here!" he called, drawing the demons attention. They both turned to attack him, sending energy balls at his head. He quickly orbed out of the way, as the energy balls hit another shelf, sending pieces everywhere. Piper used their moment of distraction to blow one of the demons up. The surviving demon turned back on Piper, letting fly another energy ball. As she ducked out of sight behind the old couch, Bianca shimmered behind the demon and stabbed him with an athame, effectively vanquishing him.  
Piper stood up then, brushing herself off. Chris and Bianca walked over to her, trying not the trip on the mess.  
"You know, it would be nice if demons could make energy balls that do less property damage," Chris said, stumbling on a piece of table. Bianca caught him before he could hurt himself.  
"If only," Piper commented, looking at her arm.  
"Mom, you're hurt!" the Elder-witch said, worried, as he noticed the shoulder wound.  
"It's not that bad. I've had worst," she replied, brushing it off.  
"Here, let me heal it," he said, as he approached her. He placed his hands just above the wound, and they started to glow, sending healing energy into her shoulder, and making it better.  
"Where are the kids?" Bianca asked, worried, after not seeing them anywhere.  
"They're in their room. Wyatt is protecting them with his force field," Piper reassured her. The younger woman let out a sigh of relief, glad that her daughter and brothers-in-law where all right. Chris finished healing Piper then, relieved that she was all right, too.  
"Do you know what those demons wanted?" Chris asked then, getting back to business.  
"To kill one of the Charmed Ones. That's what they all want, isn't it?" Piper said, as she walked over to the only shelf left standing and retrieved the mortar and pestle that she'd come up here to get in the first place.  
"So it was just another random attack?" Bianca asked.  
"Well, there have been a lot of them lately. Ever since the snow melted, the Underworld seems to want to enjoy the warmer weather," Piper remarked, as she started down the stairs from the attic, with Bianca right behind her. "Did you get the ingredients I asked for?" Chris heard her ask, as she walked out of sight. He looked around the attic one last time, shaking his head, before following. Yup, things sure were getting back to normal. Normal for the Halliwells, at least...

& & & & &

Steve sighed as he closed another book. He was again at the library of the school, searching for a way to get rid of the darker side of his family. But this seemed to be useless. Sure the demons from that clan - the Ashon - were easy to vanquish, a simple potion or an energy ball were enough... But there were hundreds of them in the underworld. And every one of them knew of his existence, every one knew about the powers which were lying in his genes. And all those demons wanted to get them - if that meant they had to hurt his fiancée, they would. So Steve and Nicki stayed at the school, feeling like prisoners. Especially since the activity of the demons in general had increased lately.  
"Don't you think you should take a break?" a voice startled him.  
Steve looked up to see Paige smiling sadly at him. "What are you doing here?" he asked. "There are no classes this week."  
"I know," Paige held up some papers, "but I've still got some exams to correct, and since Kyle has to work today... But, that doesn't answer my question."  
"Steve shrugged: "How can I have a break... I can't rest as long as they are out there threatening to kill everyone I love..."  
Paige looked at him understanding. She knew how hard that must be for him. He had just come to terms with who he really was and now this all came back to him. It wasn't fair. Then she frowned: "Have you asked Julian, maybe he could ask..."  
"The source?" Steve interrupted her. He knew that Belthazor had helped them in the past, and he appreciated it, but that didn't mean that he also liked it.  
"Yeah... he IS the source... but maybe he can at least help you to find them..."  
Steve sighed again and then nodded slowly, whispering: "Maybe..."

& & & & &

Somewhere in the middle of San Francisco, Cole was pacing in front of a judge and his jury. He was wearing a fine black suit and all that he presented screamed authority. Behind him, on dock sat a young boy, not older than 17, dressed in old clothes, with his head bowed, looking at his hands which were resting in his lap.  
While Cole was pacing around he spoke: "Judge Harris, honored jury... Look at this boy. Look at this boy and ask yourself: Is it possible that a boy like him could kill a dog with his own hands? Even more, could a boy like him eat that entire dog with everything, including the bones? As this trial proved there is NO way, that a human being can survive eating all this, neither is it possible that a human being can eat an animal in the described way. Sure, we have a witness... A 6 year old girl that just entered elementary school. Can we really trust her memory? Can we really trust that memory of a young child who claims to have seen all this in a dark alley? I have to say, I'm really sorry that we couldn't find that poor dog, because I'm sure, since there is nothing left of him, that he wasn't eaten but just ran away and lost his way back... Therefore I request to set my client free from all those accusations and let him go back to his normal life. Thank you." This said, he sat back down beside his client.  
The judge, an elderly woman with grey hair and small glasses on her nose, eyes him with suspicion. She knew him very well, from the time he had worked under the name "Turner". She didn't know what had happened to him in all those past years when he was gone. Actually she had thought he was dead. The more surprised she had been to see him enter and sit down at his place, where she had expected a Mr. Halliwell to sit.  
Finally she turned to the jury and told them to go and find a sentence. So the jury left same as the judge herself. Also most of the watchers left to get a bit of fresh air. Only some guards were staying behind, same as the prosecuting lawyer and he himself with his client. Cole looked around quickly to make sure no one was listening.  
Then he turned to the "boy" by his side and hissed: "Lurch I suggest if you get out of this alive you better not chase for food again in this city. Go search yourself a new home or even better, hunt down demons instead..."  
Lurch just looked up at him and for a split second his eyes turned red. Then he nodded and lowered his head again.

& & & & &

Meanwhile at the other end of town, Phoebe just got home from work. When she crossed the hallway she saw her sister, nephew and his wife in the kitchen. She waved hello and then went straight up to the attic. She wanted to check something in the book. She had done this interview today - yes she was asked to do an interview - with that new senator. It had gone well, but... This guy had such a mysterious tattoo on his left hand and Phoebe couldn't help the feeling that she had seen that symbol before.  
But when she opened the door to the attic she stopped immediately. The whole place was a mess, shelves were broken, same as the old table. And there were some smoking marks on the old sofa.  
Shaking her head she turned around and walked with fast steps back down and into the kitchen. She sighed and sat down at the table, and when everyone was looking at her questioning she asked: "What happened this time? And why did none of you clean up the mess up there?"

& & & & &

After spending another fifteen minutes grading exams, Paige got fed up and orbed to the attic to look in the Book of Shadows. What she found when she materialized next to the book stand, she hadn't expected. Broken shelves, table in pieces, scorch marks on the old sofa. 'Demons.' She thought, annoyed. Looking around at the mess for a moment, she finally came to a decision, and with a sigh started to chant.  
_"Let the object of objection become but a dream,  
as I cause the seen to be unseen."  
_And with the last word, the broken shelves fixed themselves, the table was back in one piece, and the scorch marks were gone. With a satisfied nod, Paige picked up the Book of Shadows, and went looking for her sisters.  
"You know, all these demon attacks are getting ridiculous," Phoebe was saying to Piper, Chris and Bianca, as Paige entered the kitchen.  
"Another random attack?" Paige asked, laying the Book on the counter.  
"Oh, you noticed?" Chris said somewhat sarcastically, teasing her.  
Paige scrunched up her face at him. "Yes, I noticed. And I cleaned up your mess," she said as she opened the Book.  
"Uh-uh, not my mess. Mom's," he accused, earning himself a towel slap from Piper. They all laughed, breaking the slowly mounting tension.  
"Thank you, Paige. I thought I'd be spending the rest of the afternoon cleaning it," Piper then said as she stirred something in a pot.  
"Potion?" Paige asked, lifting her head from the Book for a minute.  
"Dinner." Piper answered. Phoebe leaned over the pot then, taking a look inside. Piper, looking at her little sister, cleared her throat, and Phoebe moved back, smiling.  
"You know, every time demons start these random attacks, there always seems to be some extra demonic power behind it all," Bianca finally spoke up. Everyone looked at her like she had snakes for hair.  
"Honey, you're starting to sound just like Piper," Paige said, mock sympathetic, earning herself a towel slap this time. Chris and Phoebe were trying not to laugh, even though they knew it was true.  
Bianca glared at them each in turn. "Fine. I'm going to go check on the kids," she said with mock snobbery, then grabbing an apple, headed upstairs. Phoebe nudged Chris then, and they both laughed.  
"Hey, aren't you supposed to be at Magic School?" Phoebe then asked her younger sister. "Huh? Ah yeah. Grading exams. Just needed to check something in the Book of Shadows... and a moment of distraction," the witch-whitelighter said, closing the Book, and picking it up. "And now I should get going."  
"I'll take the Book. I was heading up to the attic anyway," Phoebe said. Paige handed her the heavy tome, relieved she'd have one less stop on the way back.  
"Hey, Chris," the witch-whitelighter then turned to her nephew.  
"Yeah?" he said, walking over to his mother.  
"Could you go check on Steve? He's been kind of down, what with half his family trying to kill him and all," she asked.  
"Sure. Where is he?" the Elder-witch asked in turn, looking over Piper's shoulder into the pot.  
"He's in the library at Magic School," Paige said just before she orbed away.  
Piper slowly turned her head to look at Chris, and smirked. He gave her a big smile, then orbed himself to Magic School.

& & & & &

As soon as he materialized in the library, it was clear to Chris that Steve had recently left. Books were left open, paper and pen were still on the table, and a chair was moved away from its station. He walked over to the table, to see what Steve had been up to, wondering if maybe he would be back soon. He waited for about ten minutes, then orbed to Paige's office.  
"I thought you said Steve was in the library?" Chris said, while still in the middle of his orb. Paige, startled, put her hand to her heart and looked up from her work.  
"Chris! You should really learn to knock," she said, glaring at her nephew.  
"Sorry. I didn't realize grading exams took that much attention," he joked, smiling broadly.  
"Yes, it does. And Steve was in the library the last time I saw him. He's not there now?" she asked, wondering.  
"No. And I waited there ten minutes. I hope nothing's wrong," he said, looking worried.  
"Well, maybe he went to talk to Julian..." Paige speculated.

& & & & &

The Underworld was a scary place. Even for someone with magic powers. It was dark, dank, and the screams were horrifying. And everywhere you went, everything looked the same. Rocky floors, rocky walls, rocky ceilings. Maybe a fire pit or two for light. And while little alcoves dotted the walls, cave entrances hid in plain sight. And there were demons everywhere.  
Steve started to regret coming here, the second he arrived. But Paige had a point. Maybe Belthazor would know a way to help him. And if he didn't, Steve just hoped the Source wouldn't kill him, despite what everyone said about him.  
So he stood outside Julian's cave, trying to decide whether or not to go on with his plan. Finally he took a deep breath and knocked.  
"What's the password?" he heard through the door.  
"Julian it's me..." Steve said, almost whining.  
The door was opened only a second later and a grumbling Julian let him in. "Why the hell did we give you a password, if you never use it?" He mumbled, more annoyed then angry.  
Steve shrugged: "Sorry... I had other things in mind lately." Then he sat down on a chair the demonic witch had offered to him.  
"So... Steve..." Julian began sitting down, too. "What can I do for you?"  
The young man looked around interested, then he asked: "Isn't he here?"  
"Who? Belthazor?" And when he saw his guest nod, Julian answered: "No... He's busy."  
Steve nodded again, looking down at his shoes. Then he turned to his host again and saw that he still looked at him questioning. So he took a breath and explained: "I'm here because I need your help. I wanted to ask if you could help me to get rid of the demonic part of my family."  
Julian exhaled deeply: "The Ashon right?" The man nodded. "Well," the demonic witch went on, "I heard of that... that they want you back in their ranks. And I do understand that you don't want that... But..." He made a break thinking how to say what he needed to say. But there was no easy way, so he said: "But I can't help wipe out a whole clan just because of that."  
"But they want to kill me!" Steve exclaimed.  
"No," Julian said calmly, "they want you back. They want to make you one of their own again because that's where they believe you belong."  
"What?" Steve asked shocked. "On who's side are you?"  
"On no one's side... that's the problem."

& & & & &

When Bianca entered the nursery she was surprised to see that the kids weren't alone. Bent over Christopher's crib was a well known person dressed in an Elder-robe. "Odin, what are you doing here?" she asked walking over to him.  
"Oh hey Bianca," he said, looking shortly at her before turning his attention back to Christopher, who looked at him smiling, waving with his fluffy cat he had gotten at Christmas. The Elder took the cat and played with it in front of the boy's eyes letting the cat tickle him, while he explained: "I just wanted to see how my Godson was feeling today... I haven't seen him in a while."  
Bianca grinned: "You saw him just this morning, when you picked up Leo..."  
Odin looked at her frowning, then he shrugged: "That IS a while..."  
"Yeah, sure..." Bianca replied laughing and went over to pick up Hope who was also awake by now, while Wyatt was still deep asleep, softly snoring. The girl started to giggle when she saw her mom and immediately started to play with her hair.  
"You know," Odin then spoke, looking at the small boy deep in thoughts, "if someone had told me that I would be a Godfather a few years ago, I would have thought he must be crazy... But now, now I would never want to miss this. He's such a cute boy. Same as Wyatt. And Hope is the cutest of all of them."  
The Phoenix smiled at him as she stepped closer again: "Who would have thought that an Elder would ever speak those words..."  
"Uhhh, we aren't that bad Bianca," the Elder replied looking now at her, "we just didn't know..."  
The woman patted his shoulder: "Well then it's good that you do know now, because you are a great baby-sitter, you just spoil them too much..."  
The Elder giggled but then he turned serious before he sighed: "I'm sorry... They are calling for me." Bianca just nodded and Odin orbed away.

& & & & &

After talking with Paige, Chris had tried to sense for his friend. But he couldn't get hold of Steve's signal... And that worried him, because actually that could mean only one thing: he was in the underworld...  
So the question now was: Was he there on his own, or was he kidnapped?  
Sure, Paige had told him that maybe he was paying a visit to Julian... And sure, no demon was able to enter the school, but who knows...  
So he orbed straight to Tom, thinking that he was the first one Steve would turn to if he'd need transportation to the underworld, asking him if he had heard anything, which he hadn't... Then he orbed to John, who was by that time in Sweden.  
"Chris, what are you doing here?" the whitelighter asked, when he saw the Elder-witch orb in. It was pretty cold in Sweden, the sun was already down, and Chris was just dressed in a thin shirt.  
"God is it cold here..." Chris shivered. Then he turned to the man in front of him: "Have you seen Steve? I can't sense him."  
John nodded: "Yeah, don't worry... he's fine."  
"You know where he is?" Chris asked frowning.  
"Yeah," John nodded again. "I orbed him down to the underworld a couple of minutes ago... He wanted to meet that friend of yours... What was his name??? Julius or something?"  
Chris sighed: "Julian..."  
"Oh yeah that was the one..." the whitelighter said smiling.  
Chris rolled his eyes. "What if his clan finds him down there? How can you leave him there all on his own?" Usally John wasn't that careless...  
The whitelighter shrugged: "Because he asked me to... And he said he would fry me if I didn't leave... You know what he can be like when he has set his mind on something... You're the one he got that from."  
Chris rose an eyebrow and then grinned. Yeah that was true. Ever since Steve got out of his hole he was much more a fighter then he had ever been before. "Where did you orb him to?" he asked then.  
"To some large tunnel with a door..." John answered. Then he asked: "Can I go now, I have another charge to take care of..."  
The Elder-witch nodded and John left. Chris followed him with his eyes for a moment, wondering if Steve was really safe. But from what John said, he had orbed him straight to Julian's front door and he knew how Steve would react lately if someone would step into his way... So he hoped for the best and orbed back to the manor.

& & & & &

Phoebe had made herself comfortable on the old sofa with her legs crossed and the Book of Shadows in her lab. She was flipping through the pages. She was sure she had seen this symbol before.  
Not that this Senator seemed weird or unusual, but still. She had seen this sign and it was like she was drawn to it. She even had asked him about it and he'd said it was a sin of his youth. But still...  
She flipped page after page but she couldn't find it...  
Annoyed she slammed the book shut. "Where the hell have I seen this sign before?" she mumbled to herself.  
Then she got an idea. Maybe she had seen it at the school, when she was preparing her classes... She had gone through tons of books there.  
Filled with new determination she got up and left the attic to head down the stairs. In the small middle landing she stopped and said turning to the wall: "I wanna go to the school." As soon as this was said, the door to the magic school appeared.  
"I'll be back for dinner!" she called loudly. And when she heard an "ok" from the kitchen she opened the door and stepped through it. Then, with a soft "plop" the door disappeared again as it fell shut on its own.

& & & & &

When Chris materialized in the hallway of the manor, he suddenly felt a strange dizziness. And the blue lights surrounding him were glowing so bright that it almost hurt his eyes... And then it was like there was a purple shimmer in it all. He felt that he was slowly taking solid form again, but still he felt like he had sat in a carrousel for far too long. And also the lights around him took a longer time to disappear...  
Then he was completely reformed again. But still... Chris couldn't help the feeling that something was very wrong. The hallway, where he still stood in, seemed so different... Well it was the hallway of the manor, but still... He spotted some bags casually thrown into a corner. And there were lots of jackets on the clothes-pegs. Oh and that ugly vase his mom loved so much... it wasn't there...  
Then he heard a noise from the stairs, and when he turned there, he noticed that there were much more pictures on the wall, much more... But he hadn't the time to wonder about that, or even have a closer look. Because that second a young boy ran down the stairs, probably six or seven years old, followed by another boy which Chris recognized immediately, same as the older man, with dark hair with a few grey streaks and very familiar green eyes, who was playfully hunting the kids. Giggling and laughing they ran down the stairs and over to the sunroom where the older man caught the second of the boys, lifted him up and tickled him. The smaller boy turned around laughing, too. Then he spotted Chris and stopped for a moment.  
He waved his hand smiling and greeted him: "Hello Uncle Christopher!"  
The older man turned around looking into Chris's eyes which were kind of scared. He stopped tickling the boy and let him down to the ground again. He smiled widely and friendly. "Hey," he said, not knowing what else to say.  
Chris was still frozen in shock. He stared at the three people not believing his eyes. 'That can't be, can it?' he thought.  
Meanwhile the older of the boys looked at Chris with narrowed eyes. Then he sensed what was going on and his eyes grew wide.  
"Christopher?" the small boy asked. "Is somethin' wrong?"  
At these words the older boy turned to the younger one. "That isn't your uncle, Kevin," he said. Then he turned to Chris again: "That's dad!"  
"Well... a younger version of me," corrected the old Chris smiling.

* * *

_(Chapter 1 written by Kirianna Ledräen and Chrissy.W.x)_


	2. Chapter 2

**A Charmed Story - Part Thirteen:  
Freaky Friday  
Chapter 2**

"This isn't your uncle, Kevin," the older of the two boys said to the other. Then he turned to Chris again: "That's dad!"  
"Well... a younger version of me," corrected the old Chris smiling.  
The young boy, who the other one had called Kevin, frowned confused. Then he went over to Chris looking at him, wondering. "Matthew said you're our dad... are you our dad?" he asked.  
Chris looked from the small boy to the older one: "Your name is Matthew?... So that's why Wyatt didn't tell me... you're named after him..."  
"You know me?" Matthew asked now confused on his own.  
The old Chris smiled, still looking at his younger version, and said: "We saw you, when you built up the bridge to Wyatt in the past."  
Chris just nodded, completely shocked by all that. Was he really in the future? Or was that a trick by some demon?  
Finally the others went over to him, too, and the old Chris patted his shoulder, while Matthew and Kevin hugged him. "Don't worry," the old Chris said, "this is real... you're about 23 years in the future..."  
Chris nodded, but still he felt so dizzy. Everything was kind of unreal, it was like he would see the whole world through a big cloud. But the feeling of those cute boys, hugging his legs and waist respectively, let the things become real for him. Chris knelt down to look at them. 'God, he looks so much like me,' he thought looking and Matthew smiling. And turning to Kevin he thought: 'And he looks like his mom... That's unbelievable.'  
Then he turned his head to Chris: "So we have three kids?"  
The old Chris chuckled while Kevin stated: "No... six!"  
Chris eyes grew wide as he stared at the boy, shocked again: "S-six?"  
His older version nodded: "Yepp... apart from Hope and those two... there are also Natalie and Rebecca..."  
"They are twins!" Kevin added which gained him a soft punch by his older brother.  
"And Liam... the youngest."  
Chris wanted to answer something, wanted to scream or something, but before he could say anything he heard again someone coming down the stairs. A little scared of what would happen next he turned his head same as the others.  
"I swear to you, I did nothing," they heard a young male voice.  
"Yeah... it was Christopher's idea... We were just up there to check something in the book, when he went in..."  
That second voice Chris knew very well. "Wyatt," he muttered almost inaudible.  
"He was just mumbling something like he needed some help with the whole sword-thing..." the first voice said.  
Then three persons appeared to their view. "I still can't believe it... I thought you're already out of this experimenting-phase... Especially you Wyatt," said the leader of the group - an older woman with long partly brown, partly grey hair who looked really pissed. "You can be really happy that Paige isn't here, Jim," she added, pointing her finger at the other.  
"Oh please don't tell her or dad... please... I don't want to be grounded again, especially since I didn't do anything..." the teenager replied whining.  
Chris meanwhile had rose and looked at them not believing his eyes. "Mom..." he said with a low and almost breaking voice.  
The three persons turned to the group. The two young men looked at them confused. Then the teenager called Jim exclaimed: "See... there he is... nothing bad happened."  
But Piper immediately knew what was going on. Even if she had no sensing power or something like that. She knew this man in front of her wasn't Christopher. She saw it in his eyes. This man was Chris... the Chris from the past. "Oh my..." she muttered. And then she went over to him. She just wanted to hug him, because she could imagine, that this must be freaking him out.  
But Chris couldn't stand this anymore. Seeing her... his mother, grown old... still alive... It was just too much to bear at that moment. Even if he knew his brother wouldn't kill her this time... It was just too much... Without any other word he orbed out.  
"What...?" the old Piper asked surprised.  
"Can anyone tell us what's going on here?" Wyatt asked.  
"That was Dad!" Kevin stated.  
"What?" Jim asked confused.  
But then the truth hit Wyatt as he tried to sense for his brother. "Oh my God..." he muttered.  
"Where is he gone?" Piper asked kind of frustrated.  
The older Chris smiled weakly. "I guess I know it... Don't worry, I'll pick him up," he said. Then he gave his mother a kiss on her cheek and followed 'himself' by orbing.

& & & & &

_Meanwhile in our time..._  
When the spinning stopped, Christopher looked around. "Oh shit..." he mumbled, noticing not only that his brother and cousin were nowhere to see but also that the attic was much too large. That wasn't his attic. "Oh my... I'm so grounded," he whined. Frustrated he moved his hand through his messy hair and again turned around himself for a couple of times. "Chris will kill me," he muttered again.  
At that moment bluish orb lights appeared in front of him, and turned into the small body of three-year-old Wyatt. Both boys looked at each other frowning. "Where is Chris?" Wyatt asked then, sensing that this was not his big brother, even if he seemed familiar.  
Christopher rolled his eyes and knelt down in front of him: "Hey, big brother, it's me... Christopher!"  
"Christopher?" Wyatt asked back frowning. It was weird, his little brother was just a baby but... he couldn't deny that with the man in front of him it felt the same. And he remembered that, not so long ago, he had had the same feeling like now. It felt like when there had been two grown-up Chrises around. Or was he imagining that?  
"Yeah it's me," the man said grabbing Wyatt's hands. "I'm sorry I've scared you, brother."  
Wyatt was still frowning, but before anyone of them could say another word, they heard another voice from the stairs.  
"Chris? Are you up there?"  
"Shit... mom," Christopher mumbled. She couldn't find out... she couldn't. So he picked Wyatt up to his arms and orbed with him away right on time. When Piper opened the door the attic was empty.

& & & & &

_Back in the future..._  
Chris sat under a tree on a little hill in the middle of an old cemetery as his older self orbed in. He orbed in Chris's back, so he couldn't see his face. But he knew that his younger self was crying. He knew it, because he remembered that day very well. And he tried to remember what he had done, or has to do now... 'Jesus, that's confusing,' he thought.  
Taking a deep breath he sat down beside his younger version and put his arm around him.  
"It's weird, but I'm happy you still know this place," Chris sobbed, drying his tears with his sleeve and then looking at his older version with red eyes.  
The older Chris sighed and pulled his younger version into a close hug. "Of course I do... how could I forget it... even if she's alive this time."  
The young Chris still sobbed a little his older version tried to soothe him: "It's ok, Chris. It's ok..."  
"No, it's not... Mom died, MY mom died... And I just put that aside enjoying my life with the new Piper, forgetting about her..." Chris sobbed. He felt so much guilt.  
"You didn't forget her... otherwise you wouldn't have been so shocked," the old Chris stated. "Our version of her is in our heart always and forever. That's why we made sure... well you will make sure that this place stays untouched."  
The younger Chris looked up, seeing how the older one smiled at him and nodded. "Yeah... I bought this area... And I still come here from time to time, to think about her... and so will you..."  
His younger version dried his tears and smiled weakly. "That's a good idea."  
They sat together silently for a little while, thinking about their past life and the new life they now had, and the younger Chris began to relax more and more. He always wanted this... this chance to see how the future is like. And now that he had it, the first thing he noticed was that he clearly didn't belong there anymore. This, even if it was the time he should be in, it wasn't his... his time was back in the past, with his wife and girl. Still this could be a really interesting experience.  
He sighed deeply: "So why am I here?"  
The older Chris shrugged: "I'm not sure... but from what I heard in the hallway... I guess Christopher did something to help him deal with his destiny... You know, I told him when he turns twenty-four, I'll pass Excalibur on to him... But he doesn't want that... So I suppose he cast a spell or something... And I guess the fact that today is Friday 13th did the rest."  
"It's Friday 13th here today?" Chris asked and the older one nodded. Then the younger one asked: "Why would he need to do something like that?"  
The older Chris smiled: "He's afraid, same as we were..."  
The younger Chris nodded and thought: 'I still am...' Then he said: "I guess we should go back, mom is surely worried sick." The older Chris had to chuckle by these words. "And," the younger one said, "I'm really wondering about the other surprises you have for me..."

& & & & &

_Meanwhile in our time...  
_Christopher orbed with Wyatt up there to the Elder land. Trying not to be seen, he hurried down the long hallway to the private chambers. Even if - in his time - Christopher was up there a lot of times, he still didn't know all the Elders and therefore he was afraid that his cover would be blown. And on the other hand he wasn't sure how long his brother would stay calm in his arms.  
Finally he reached the door he was searching for and knocked.  
It took a little while, but then the door was opened. "Chris? What are you doing here?"  
Christopher looked around, and when he saw that no one was near he whispered: "Uncle Odin, it's me... I'm in huge trouble and I need your help! The others can't know that I'm here."  
Odin frowned, then he rose his eyebrows: "Christopher?" The young man nodded. "Oh my... come in, come in..."

& & & & &

When Piper reached the top floor, she found out that the attic was empty. What she didn't know was that someone had just left before she got there, and that this person was her little offspring, a bit grown-up and coming from faraway in the future. No, she didn't know this, but she FELT odd. Something was wrong, and she wouldn't be able to hide her distress. Her face, with a worried expression, turned to one side and the other scanning the room in search of that 'something' she was sure there was there. However, the room was quiet now, too quiet...  
"Chris???" she repeated, stepping forward carefully and still looking around. No noise... But she'd heard something before! "Chris, this is no fun." It wasn't, and if she got no answer, then there was NO Chris there, so...  
"Phoebe!" Piper had started to feel nervous. No answer either. But then she remembered that she wanted to go to the school. Ok... but Chris?  
All of a sudden, she had a feeling, like a flash: "WYATT!?" And this was the problem... Wyatt wouldn't answer. "Wyatt!!! Come here right now, sweetie! Mom is worried!" Actually, Mom was more than worried. Something was wrong, she just felt it...  
It was clear that Wyatt wasn't in the attic, so she started to the stairs which she climbed down faster than a lightning while still shouting her sons' names: "CHRIS!! WYATT! CHRISTOPHER!!"  
She rushed to her room and after that to the nursery, but while she could find out the other kids were fine in the care of Bianca, she couldn't get Wyatt. "LEOOOOO!!! For God's sake, LEOOOOO Come here now, please! It's Wyatt...!"

& & & & &

Wyatt was safe of course, but not at home, and not with Chris... He was with his little big brother in the upper world, sitting on his lap while Odin paced around nervously and Christopher looked at him from time to time, a bit ashamed and scared at the same time.  
"So you made up a spell..." Christopher nodded, and Odin, after sighing deeply, went on: "And you just appeared here."  
And again, the young witch-Elder nodded, followed by a little giggle from Wyatt, a Wyatt bigger and bigger each day, who decided now to jump from his legs and play on his own on the floor.  
"He appear!" the boy repeated happily, not even knowing what it was about. This made Christopher even more ashamed.  
Odin stared at him now, stopping a few steps from him, hands at his back: "Why on earth did you do that?"  
"I am... I am worried," he answered. "But I didn't want... I mean..."  
"Personal gain, Christopher! Didn't your parents teach you that???" Odin was frustrated. Frustrated and worried, and he might be sounding a bit angry, but above all, he was worried.  
Christopher lowered his eyes, and Wyatt raised his. "Don't shout at Chris, Uncle..." he said with an extremely serious expression for a kid.  
"No, he's right, Wyatt..." Christopher muttered, very upset with himself. In fact, he knew HIS Wyatt would have said the same thing as Odin now. _"What the hell are you thinking about?? Christopher!! Personal gain, damn it! You know you can put all of us in danger!"_ Oh, yes. And he had. "I..."  
He was going to continue, and his eyes filled with tears, but what really startled him was the touch of those little hands around his knees. "I'm not telling mom or dad, I promise," said the childish voice of his brother.  
Odin sighed again and sat down, taking his hand to his forehead to wipe out the sweat. He couldn't think of the consequences of that action, but not telling the scared man off was a sensible idea coming from the little child. He had to help, not worsen the situation by scaring the young boy to death! "Ok... Listen, Christopher... You're gonna go down there, and you will try to... keep the secret. They'll think you're Chris, so no need to frighten them all. I will talk to Silas and we'll see what we can do."  
Christopher raised his eyes, now with hope towards him, and asked: "You sure???"  
Odin smiled and stood up tiredly, going to them afterwards and patting his shoulder:  
"Absolutely. Don't worry, buddy."  
"No worry, baddie!" little Wyatt repeated, pronouncing the word buddy in a funny way.  
Christopher had to laugh after all, and messed with the kid's hair.

& & & & &

When the door to his office was suddenly opened Darryl startled. He had been zoned out a little, since there wasn't much to do these days.  
"Did I wake you up," Kyle asked smiling, when he saw how his colleague rubbed his eyes.  
"Don't get cheeky, young man," the detective said with faked anger.  
Kyle just laughed and sat down in front of his friend, placing a box with burgers and coffee on his table. "I thought you might be hungry, too," he said.  
Darryl smiled: "Thanks." And so they both had their lunch.  
While they were eating the two men talked about all the things that came to their minds. They talked about the last case, the new Senator, the results of the last football game...  
Then Darryl said: "By the way, I tried to call you last evening. I wanted to ask if you like to come over for a beer since Sheila was in theater with her friend and my son sleep at his friend's home."  
Kyle grinned: "Yeah, sorry, I slept at Paige's..."  
Darryl looked up from his burger. And when he finally managed to swallow down the bite he asked: "Again?" He knew that Kyle and Paige spent a lot of time together lately, but hadn't he just told him yesterday that he had stayed with her.  
His friend meanwhile just nodded, with his mouth full of burger, too, so Darryl added: "You spend a lot of time in the manor lately."  
Kyle grinned: "Not that much... only four nights this week, so far..."  
Now Darryl coughed, surprised by his friend's words: "Five nights? You realised that we only have Friday, do you?" His friend just nodded smiling.

& & & & &

_Back in the future...  
_Piper was pacing back and forth, worrying about Chris, past Chris. She laughed to herself at that thought. Just over twenty-three years ago, it had been future Chris. Time travel was just so confusing! But either way, he was still her son. She glanced over at Wyatt, Jim, Matthew and Kevin. Wyatt gave her a reassuring smile, as Jim kept Matthew and Kevin busy. Moments later, Piper's heart nearly jumped out of her chest as both Chrises orbed in.  
"Thank God you're alright!" she said, with her hand to her heart, walking toward them. She quickly put her arms around the younger Chris, and pulled him into a hug. He was both stunned and relieved, feeling just like he had that day in the past when he'd first hugged her after she had found out who he was and finally trusted him. And just like that time, his heart was pounding. To see her alive and well, the way she should have been in his own time line, was overwhelming to say the least, but also heartwarming.  
"I'm fine, Mom," he said, holding her a little longer, before pulling back and looking at everyone. Piper moved next to the older Chris then, took holed of his arm, and smiled proudly up at him. Kevin moved away from Matthew and Jim, and walked up to past Chris and lightly touched his arm, as if to see if he was really there.  
"You are really my dad, aren't you?" he asked in his young voice, still a little confused.  
Chris looked down at him and smiled. "Looks that way," he replied, reaching over to mess the young boy's hair, getting a giggle in return. Chris then looked over at his older self, a serious expression transforming his face. "So how do I get back to my time?"  
Just then, a set of blue-white orbs started to appear nearby and formed into Leo. An older looking Leo. It didn't take Leo long to realize something wasn't right. He looked from one face to the other, and stopped on the younger Chris.  
"Dad! Your hair! It's turning white!" Chris said shocked, before Leo could open his mouth to speak. This statement caused Leo to laugh, and he knew he'd been right about him.  
"Yes, it is getting a little grey," he admitted, smiling broadly. Everyone else was trying to stifle their laughter, and the tension no one had sensed building, was broken.  
"But, I thought you would always look young. So how is that possible?" Chris stammered.  
Leo absently ran his fingers through his graying dark blonde hair. "Chris, do you remember when I first became an Elder?" Leo asked, looking at his time traveling son.  
"Yeah," he said in an embarrassed tone, his cheeks turning red at the memory.  
Leo smiled at his embarrassment, despite himself. "Do you remember, that when I came back down for the first time, I had a few white hairs?" He asked, regaining his composure.  
"Yeah," Piper said, sounding a little annoyed, despite the smile on her face. Chris blushed even more at this. Even the elder Chris was starting to blush. The two young boys were listening intently, looking from one adult to the other. Wyatt and Jim stood by, silently, taking it all in.  
"I told your mother then that I must have spent too much time up there. But in reality, it was a preview of what was to come. Even though Elders, like Kings, can be any age, eventually they must grow older. It gives them a more distinguished, wiser look. Though we will never die, we also won't ever look like we just walked out of a grave. But, I'm afraid, the cost of looking wise requires grey hair. And I didn't want Piper to feel like she was growing older by herself, so I sped up the process," Leo explained. He looked at the two boys, a smile creeping onto his lips, and winked.  
"And I'm, you're, just getting old," the older Chris said, teasing his younger counterpart. Past Chris had to laugh at that.  
"Now it's my turn. What are you doing here, Chris?" Leo asked, looking for the explanation this time.  
"I wish I knew," Chris replied, bewildered.  
"But..." Leo began.  
"Ask your other son," Piper said, looking at Wyatt. Leo looked over to him, surprised.  
"It was Christopher. Jim and I went up to the attic to check something in the book, and found him there. He was mumbling about the sword or something, then he disappeared," Wyatt explained, as he moved closer.  
"We didn't know anything was really wrong until we came down here with Aunt Piper, and saw Chris," Jim added, feeling a little ashamed for not stopping Christopher.  
"So how do I get back?" Chris asked again, looking at Leo. "Can Hope bring me back, and get Christopher?"  
Just then, more orb lights formed a few feet away, and a voice could be heard. "Did I hear my name?" the woman asked even before she was fully formed.  
"Hope!" Chris said, when he saw his grown up daughter.  
"Uncle Christoph... Chris? Dad?" She said, shocked. Her young father smiled at her sheepishly. She quickly glanced at her older father, who gave her a similar smile. "What's going on here?"  
"That's what we are trying to figure out, Hope," Leo answered her. Then he turned his attention to Wyatt. "Tell me again what happened when you saw Christopher in the attic."  
"He was chanting something. He was talking too low for me to get most of it. But it did sound like a spell," Wyatt recounted, wishing he had heard what Christopher has said.  
"And then you came down here and found Chris?" Leo probed.  
"Yes," Wyatt confirmed.  
Leo thought for a moment. Something sounded vaguely familiar to him. Christopher casts a spell, and now he's in the past and Chris is in the future... "I think he cast a switching spell," he concluded after a minute, and a little pacing.  
"A switching spell?" Piper said, baffled.  
"I'm sure you remember how many times a switching spell has been cast on us?" Leo said, smiling at the memories.  
"You mean when our powers were switched? Or my pregnancy syndromes?" she asked, chuckling at the second one, her kids looking at her puzzled. "Or when Phoebe switched places with her past life? Or when Paige switched bodies with Phoebe? Or those three blondes stole our identities?" she pointed out.  
"Or when the baby was switched to me..." Leo added, trying not to laugh. Both Chrises, Wyatt, Hope and Jim looked at Leo, dumbfounded. Matthew and Kevin looked rather grossed out, their faces scrunched in disgust at the thought of Leo being pregnant. Piper couldn't help but laugh at that. "But yeah, that's what I mean. But it looks like, this time, Christopher and Chris switched times, instead of bodies or powers."  
"But what does that mean? And will Hope be able to bring us back to our own times?" Chris asked, after a moment to compose himself. Since he had been there for his own birth, he knew the baby they had meant had been Wyatt. And the thought that his father had carried Wyatt, even for a short time, was disconcerting.  
"No, she won't be able to. Since it was a spell that switched you in the first place, the only way back is for the magic to run its course, or the spell to be reversed." Leo said, feeling sorry for Chris.  
"That explains why I can't leave the timeline at the moment..." Hope mumbled to herself, without anybody noticing it.  
"Great! And since Wyatt and Jim didn't hear what Christopher said, I can't reverse the spell," Chris said, feeling helpless.  
"Unfortunately, it looks like only Christopher can reverse it," Leo said, compassionately.

& & & & &

_Back in our time..._  
"Piper, what's going on?" Leo asked even before he was completely materialised. And as soon as he took a look at his wife, he knew something must be wrong, since the worry and distress was clearly readable in Piper's eyes. She was standing in the empty nursery, and that worried Leo even more.  
"Wyatt and Chris, I can't find them. I don't..."  
"Shhhh..." Leo went over to her and pulled her into a hug to make her calm down. He wouldn't find out what's going on when she panicked. Then he separated a little from her to look her in the eyes and said: "Tell me what happened."  
Piper tried to calm down, but was hardly able to. "I was finishing lunch and I wanted to pick up the boys. I went to the attic to get Chris since I heard something from the room... But no one was there. So I came here and found Bianca who told me that Wyatt orbed away, saying 'Chris' before he left. And..." She started sobbing by now. "And I called for them and... they didn't come... and.. I don't know Leo, I just feel that something is wrong. I just feel it."  
"Where is Bianca now?" Leo asked now worried on his own.  
"Downstairs, with the kids... I told her to go and prepare everything since I didn't want her to worry, too," his wife replied.  
The Elder sighed and pulled her close again, rubbing her back in circles to calm her down. Even if he knew there wasn't much anyone could do to calm down a worried mother, especially one of the kind like Piper. And while he hugged his wife he tried to sense for his boys, worried on his own...  
But then he sighed relieved and pulled away from his wife to look at her again: "Please, stop worrying, they are fine. Wyatt is up there and Chris seems to be, too. Through his signal is a little foggy, but it is him, I'm sure..."  
"Are you really sure?" Piper asked, desperate.  
Leo nodded and hugged her again, tightly.  
Right that moment bluish orbing lights filled the room again, making the couple separate and raise their heads.  
"Mommy?" Wyatt asked as soon as he saw the tears on her face.  
"Wyatt..." Piper breathed out and ran over to him and Chris(topher) to pick up the small boy and hold him close.  
"What happened?" the older of the brothers asked, through he had a small idea of what had been going on while they had visited Odin.  
"Nothing," Leo smiled, "Piper was just worried, because she couldn't find you... And I guess with the increasing demon activity lately she overreacted a little."  
That was when the woman turned to them sharply, addressing both men: "I did NOT overreact... And I still have the feeling that something's wrong here... And Chris, why did your father say your signal is foggy when he tried to sense for you?"  
Chris(topher) looked from one to the other. He had talked about this problem with Odin. His magical signature was the same as the one of the baby, but - even if they should be the same person, kind of- his signature was different from Chris'. So Odin used some of his magic to mask his signal. But how should he explain that now. "Well," he started, "I guess maybe this has something to do with the demon I ran into earlier... But I doubt it is anything worth worrying about..." And he surprised himself how easily it worked to lie at his parents right now, while in his own time he wasn't able to do that. But it was probably like Chris had once said: _"When you're not in your own time, some things seem to be easier to do... especially when it comes to lying to the people you love. But even so, it won't make it easier for yourself."  
_Christopher was still lost in his thoughts when a sentence from Piper made his worries increase again, drastically.  
"Well, ok... but now you should come down with us for lunch. Your wife is already down there with your daughter and Christopher," Piper said.  
'Wife?' Christopher thought. 'Daughter?' Inside he felt like falling into a deep black hole. 'Oh no... I can't play the loving husband...' What if she wanted to kiss him... or even worse what if she wanted to... 'Don't go there, Christopher,' he told himself, 'don't go there!' Sighing he followed his parents out of the attic and down the stairs, all the while desperately trying to find a way to get out of this as soon as possible.

* * *

_(Chapter 2 written by Chrissy.W.x, Belen and Kirianna Ledräen)_


	3. Chapter 3

**A Charmed Story - Part Thirteen:  
Freaky Friday  
Chapter 3**

Halfway across town, Court had just been called back into session, and Cole quickly eyed Lurch as the judge entered and sat down. For some unknown reason, Cole had the feeling he was needed at home, and so he wanted to get this over with as soon as possible. He watched as Judge Harris asked the jury to show her their verdict, and satisfied with the outcome, gave the piece of paper back to the bailiff, who in turn gave it back to the lead juror. Then he and his client stood up to hear the verdict.  
"How do you find the defendant?" Judge Harris asked the jury.  
"In the charge of animal cruelty, we, the jury, find the defendant not guilty," the head juror announced, much to Cole's relief. He looked over at Lurch, who had a creepy little smile on his face, and nudged him under the desk with his foot, making the young looking demon give him a quick glare.  
"Young Mister Smith, you are free to go," the judge told Lurch, then turning to the prosecution said, "Mr. and Mrs. Connally, I suggest you find an outlet for your daughter's imagination. And it would be best to keep her out of dark alleys while alone at night. Court is adjourned," she finished with a strike of her gavel.  
Everyone in the court room stood up then, as the judge and jurors left, then everyone followed suit. Little Sarah Connally glared across the room at Lurch, as her mother held her close, while her father talked to their lawyer. Lurch smiled that sick smile again, scaring the little girl, and making her hide her face in her mother's shirt. Cole stepped in their line of sight then, glaring at Lurch, and leaning close. "Lurch, I warned you already, get out of town as soon as we leave here."  
Lurch glared up at him, not afraid of Cole's threat. "Yeah, sure, whatever," he said in a voice that shouldn't belong to a seventeen-year-old boy.  
Cole leaned in even more, right into the demon's face. "If I ever catch you in San Francisco again, I'm going to send the Charmed Ones after you," he hissed.  
"Is that a threat?" Lurch asked, getting in Cole's face this time.  
"No, it's a promise. And for God's sake, go brush your teeth! Your breath smells like dead dog!" With that, Cole picked up his brief case, and hurried back home.

& & & & &

Piper, Leo, Wyatt, and Chris(topher) headed down the stairs. The latter one was lagging behind, still trying to find a way out of the mess he had orbed himself into. He stopped when he heard Wyatt run over to baby Christopher and Hope, who were sitting on the floor in the living room, playing. Bianca was with them, and Christopher's mind was spinning. 'What am I going to do?' he thought, frantically.  
And just then, his prayers were answered, as a demon shimmered into the hallway, near the front door.  
"Wyatt, force field!" Piper yelled. Wyatt immediately obeyed, and his shield came up to protect himself, Baby Christopher and Hope. Bianca stayed near the children, and Piper raised her hands to blow up the demon. But the demon attacked first, sending an energy ball coursing toward Piper and Leo. Christopher quickly orbed out of the way, and behind the demon, as Piper and Leo ducked. The energy ball hit into the wall, scorching it.  
"Chris!" Bianca yelled, making Christopher turn her way, and alerting the demon of his presence behind him. The demon quickly turned on him, sending an energy ball flying. Christopher orbed out of the way again, but the front door opened just then, and Cole came in, right in the path of the energy ball. Piper froze the energy ball and then blew up the demon with two quick hand movements. Cole was standing stoke still, with the energy ball only an inch from his face.  
"Is everyone all right?" Leo asked, looking at everyone in turn. Christopher had orbed back to the stairs, behind Leo. Wyatt lowered his shield then, knowing the danger was gone. Bianca stayed by them, but looked over to Chris(topher) worried. Piper was brushing herself off, and looked over at Cole, who still hadn't moved.  
"You can move now, Cole," Piper said, as she walked over to him.  
"Easy for you to say."  
That's when Piper noticed Cole's dilemma. His back was pressed up against the door, his head at an angle. If he moved, even a little bit, he risked getting the frozen energy ball in the head.  
"Oh. Chris, sweetie, could you give us a hand here, please?" Piper asked, inspecting Cole's situation. Christopher came down the rest of the stairs, his heart pounding against his ribs, terrified he'd be found out at any moment.  
"I think, if you pull the energy ball away from your uncle, slowly, then toss it into the wall where the other one hit, it should be fine. And we can deal with the wall later," Piper said, moving back away from Cole.  
"Okay," Christopher said, in a small voice. He lifted his hand then, and started to slowly move the energy ball telekinetically away from Cole. "Dad, you better duck," he said.  
Leo looked at him confused for a second, then moved out of the way, when he realized what Chris(topher) was about to do. And as soon as Leo was out of the way, the energy ball was flying into the wall, right where the first one had hit.  
"Thanks, kid. That's another one I own you," Cole said, placing his hand on Chris(topher)'s shoulder. Just then, he was thrown into a premonition.  
_Chris standing in the manor... An unintelligible spell being cast by an unseen person...The manor's grandfather clock... A demon's back... An unrecognizable object glinting in the sun..._  
Cole shook his head as he came out of it. Not sure what to make of the fuzzy flashes he'd just had.  
Piper looked at him, worried, having recognized the look on his face, as the same one Phoebe got when she had a premonition. "What did you see?" she asked him.  
Christopher held his breath and moved away, fearing Cole had found him out.  
"I don't know. It wasn't very clear. Chris was the only thing I could make out. And he was just standing in the manor. Everything else was just a jumble of images that don't make much sense," he tried to explain, but the pictures were quickly fading from his mind. He shook his head again, and the reason he'd come home so quickly, came back to him. "Is everything all right here? I mean, other then the demon attack?"  
"Oh, yeah, everything is fine. Now," Piper said, giving Chris(topher) a worried look.  
"What do you mean, now?" Cole asked, following Piper's gaze to his nephew, who avoided her eyes and looked down at his feet, feeling like he was just about to be busted.  
"Oh, nothing. Chris and Wyatt went missing for a few heart wrenching minutes. But they are both back now. And safe," Piper said, feeling a little better. Cole visibly relaxed then, feeling, maybe, he hadn't been needed home so quickly. "So, who's hungry?" Piper asked, after a moment. Everyone answered that they were, except Christopher.  
"I'm not hungry. I think I'm just going to go check the Book and see if I can identify that demon," he said, then jogged up the stairs before anyone could stop him.

& & & & &

Steve looked at the demonic witch intensely, confused about his behavior. What did he mean? Did he mean he wouldn't help him just because the world wasn't in danger? Was he to small to fit into Belthazor's clients?  
Julian seemed to guess what the demon-Elder was thinking, so he explained: "I know the Ashon aren't the kindest of demons, but... See it from their point of view, just for once."  
Steve just shook his head and rose. "I better go," he muttered.  
But Julian wasn't done yet: "What if a demon would take away his child to raise it far away from the human world? What if the human family of that child would want the kid back? Would you want me to kill all the humans then, too?"  
Steve turned around and glared at the man: "That's not the same!"  
"Isn't it?" Julian gave back.  
"What is it that you want me to do then?" the younger one asked, getting angry. "Shall I go to them, let them corrupt my soul to the point that I'd willingly kill my own fiancée and maybe even eat her? Do you want me to become a monster?"  
"You already are that, Steve... You are a half-demon, the monster - as you called it - is a part of you!"  
The young man wanted to throw another angry comment back at the demonic witch when the door was suddenly roughly opened and Belthazor stormed into the cave slamming the door shut behind him.  
"Those stupid little demon-followers of mine... How often do I have to tell them to not go after the Charmed Ones, damn it!" he groaned angrily, his eyes glowing dangerously, as he went over to his separated room. But seconds later he returned, his emotions calmed down, and looked at Steve with a weird smile. Then he said to Julian: "Why didn't you tell me that we have a guest?"  
"Well..." Julian started.  
But Steve interrupted him: "I was just about to leave... That is if you could give me a lift."  
Belthazor looked at Julian who sighed, then he turned to Steve and nodded, saying: "Alright, as you wish..." He waved his hand and the young man disappeared.  
As soon as he was gone Belthazor turned to his friend: "What was that about?"  
The demonic witch shrugged: "What do you think? He asked for help to get rid of his family..."  
"And you said no," the source stated. And when the other nodded he asked: "Why didn't you tell him the truth?"  
Julian glared at him: "What? Shall I tell him that they aren't doing this for the reason he believes in? That they just want to help him the same way as Elenia does? Do you honestly believe that Steve would believe that his demonic family just wants him to find out who he really is?"  
"Maybe that would make things easier for him..." Belthazor thought out loud, but then shook his head. "No I guess it won't. I guess he even don't think about the fact that he HAS a demonic side..."  
Julian nodded: "None of them seems to think about that..."  
The source snorted: "Yeah... Not even Cole, who knows about this first hand..."

& & & & &

Paige was still correcting exams in her office at the school, when her mobile phone rang. She sighed and answered it: "Yeah..."  
_"Hey baby... it's me..."_ she heard from the other end of the line...  
"Oh hey Kyle... How are you doing?"  
_"I'm lonely... I miss you."  
_Paige grinned, through he couldn't see it: "I miss you, too..."  
_"You know,"_ Kyle then began, _"I was wondering if you'd like to go out with me tonight... There is this new restaurant near the department, which looks really lovely. And later we could watch a movie."  
_Paige looked at her watch and then at the pile of still uncorrected exams, before she sighed: "Oh honey, I would love to, but I'm so busy right now, I doubt I'll make it out of here before eight or nine tonight..."  
She heard her lover sigh. Then he was silent. "Kyle?"  
_"Yeah... I'm here, I was just thinking..."_ There was another silence, then he asked: _"Do you think Piper would let me use her kitchen?"  
_Now Paige chuckled: "I'm not sure... Why?"  
_"Because then I would prepare you a little dinner and wait for you to get home tonight..."_ he replied his voice a little seductive...  
Paige smiled again: "Well... as long as you don't set the whole room on fire, she won't mind... I hope..."  
_"Great!"_ Kyle said enthusiastically.  
"Yeah great..."  
_"See you later, baby..."_  
"Yeah, bye honey..." And with this she ended the call. She kept staring at her phone for a moment before she smiled again and put it aside to return to her work with new found eagerness.

& & & & &

Bianca was heading up the stairs to the attic, with a tray of food for Chris(topher). It had been an hour or so since the last demon attack, and since Chris(topher) had seemed rather distant, she had decided to let him be for a while. But she was worried about him. And despite his saying so earlier, she was pretty sure he was hungry now. Plus, he did have a hard time turning down anything Piper cooked.  
"Hi honey. I brought you something to eat," she said, as she walked into the attic.  
Chris(topher) looked up from the Book, which was in his lap, fear creeping into his mind. Fear he'd be found out by the one person who would know the difference. He forced himself to relax, knowing if he didn't, he'd be found out for sure. "Thank you," he said after a moment, and after closing the Book and placing it on its stand. He'd told the others earlier he was going to look for the demon, but that was far from the truth. He was looking for a way back to his time, and to bring Chris back to this one. But, so far, with no luck.  
Bianca placed the tray on the table, glad for Paige's little cleanup spell. She looked over at Chris(topher), watching him for a moment. She could tell something was bothering him, and she hoped he would talk to her. "I didn't want to bother you before, and I knew you needed some time alone. But I'm worried about you. Is everything all right?" she asked, as she walked over to him.  
Christopher swallowed around the lump in his throat, hoping she didn't notice, before he spoke. "I'm fine. Everything is fine," he lied, not sounding too convincing, but hopefully convincing enough.  
"Don't lie to me. What's wrong?" she pressed, becoming suspicious. Wondering why he wasn't looking her in the eye.  
"I'm not lying! Nothing's wrong," he said a little more forcefully then he intended.  
"It sure doesn't sound like nothing's wrong. What's going on with you today?" she said, feeling affronted.  
"Can't I come up to the attic and look in the Book without being asked a thousand questions? And why, every time I want to be alone, does something have to be wrong? For the last time, I'm fine!" he said, raising his voice, and feeling angry. He just wanted to get back to his time and fix this before anyone found out. And everyone bothering him with questions wasn't helping. He knew he could lie if he needed to, but he just wanted to get back before he caused any more trouble.  
"Fine. No, fine. If you want to be alone, I'm gone," Bianca said, angrily, feeling a pain in her heart, a sense of betrayal. She started to walk out of the attic.  
Christopher felt a guilty pang, knowing he probably did just make more trouble. For Chris... "Bianca... I'm sorry. Please, I..." he started, moving toward her.  
She stopped but didn't look back at him.  
"I'm just stressed out with all demons. And I just need some time to clear my head," he continued.  
"Then you should have said so in the first place. You didn't have to lie and yell, and..." she said, never turning to face him. She didn't want him to see the tears about to spill onto her cheeks.  
"I'm sorry. You don't know how sorry I am," he said, feeling really bad for yelling at her and upsetting her. And knowing Chris would kick his butt for doing it. "I'm going to go. Try to find some... Try to clear my head, find some peace for a little while. Later," he said, defeated. Then he orbed away.

& & & & &

The police station was rather busy this afternoon. The detectives and other officers were coming and going, bringing in suspects and racing out to emergencies. And Darryl was watching it all. He'd been filling in paperwork all morning, and he knew he'd be doing the same thing all afternoon, unless some big emergency required his expertise. But right now, he was taking a coffee break, even though it hadn't been that long since he'd finished having lunch with Kyle. There was just so much work that he needed the extra break.  
Just then a couple of cops brought in a big man in cuffs, who was struggling. Darryl recognized the man, as he'd been the one to put him away. He was rather surprised to see him, even though he'd heard he'd been released on parol recently.  
"Well, well, if it isn't Detective Darryl Morris. Been a long time," the prisoner said.  
"Not long enough, Jackson. Aren't you supposed to be on parol?" Darryl asked him, as the two officers sat him roughly in a chair.  
"Mitchell's too busy to bother with me. What with all his delinquents," Jackson said, grinning evilly.  
"Oh, really? You do know what breaking parol will do to you, right? You're going right back to jail," Darryl said, leaning in close. Then straightening up, and turning to a junior officer, he said, "Daniels, go tell Henry we found his missing parolee."  
"Yes, sir," Officer Daniels said, then went in search of the parol officer. Darryl moved away from Jackson, and let him stew in his own mess.  
As he turned around, he saw Kyle sitting at his desk, his hand on the phone, and a ridiculously big grin on his face. That grin was so contagious, Darryl found himself smiling, too. "Just talked to Paige, didn't you?" he asked as he approached the younger man. Kyle looked up, still grinning widely.  
"Yeah, we have a date tonight. I'm going to prepare something for her," Kyle told him, his smile never leaving his face.  
"Well, it's not tonight yet. Still got about four hours or so to go," Darryl reminded him.  
An idea came to him then. "Hey, I don't suppose I can leave early?" he asked, hopefully.  
"I'm not your boss. You should go see the captain. But you better think of a better excuse then you want to cook for your girlfriend," Darryl said, patting Kyle on the shoulder as he headed back to his office.  
"I might just do that," Kyle said to himself.

& & & & &

Steve had been sent back to the main hall in Magic School. And he was rather pissed. Why wouldn't Julian and Belthazor help him? It seemed like he was never going to get rid of his father's demonic side of the family. And since there were so many, it would take forever to find and vanquish them all by himself. 'Damn it!' he thought, then punched the wall.  
"Steve?" he heard the sweet voice, so full of worry, that he'd heard so many times, and that his heart cherished. Nicki had just come out of one of the rooms, and had seen him punch the wall. She walked over to him now, worried about the man she loved.  
"Nicki. Hi," he said, sheepishly. He tried to smile, but it didn't work. She was still terribly worried.  
"Steve, sweetheart, what's wrong?" she asked as she came up to him, and took his hand in hers. His knuckles were bleeding.  
He looked away from her, ashamed to let her see him this way. "It's nothing," he lied, looking at the floor.  
She held up his hand, and made him wince by touching his knuckles. "This isn't nothing. What is it? Please tell me. I can help, whatever it is," she said lovingly, trying to soothe his anger. It seemed to work, but only for a moment.  
"You can't help me. No one can!" he said, his anger rising again. He pulled his hand from her grasp, and started to walk down the corridor.  
"Steve! Steve!" Nicki tried calling after him, but he never stopped.

& & & & &

Christopher had orbed himself to the library at Magic School, hoping he could find something there to help him get back. But so far, still no luck. He closed another book in frustration, just as an angry Steve came in, mumbling to himself and knocking over a chair. He watched him for a moment before saying anything. "Rough day?" he asked the slightly younger man.  
"Yeah. You have no idea," he said, seeing Christopher for the first time, since he'd arrived in the library.  
"Oh, I may not know about your day, but mine hasn't been any better, I'm sure," Christopher confessed.  
"Fight with the Mrs.?" Steve joked, as he came and sat next to him.  
"Oh, it's so much more then that," Christopher said, feeling his cheeks heat up.  
"Isn't it always? I mean with all the magic, it just makes everything complicated, worst," the demon-Elder said, glancing at the pile of books in front of Christopher.  
"Well, not always. And sometimes the magic makes it easier. At least then, I can find out if a girl likes me before I make a fool of myself," the witch-Elder said, forgetting himself for a minute. He looked up suddenly, realizing his mistake.  
Steve was staring wide eyed at him, mouth hanging open.  
"Ah, ah, what I meant was..." he tried to explain, starting to panic.  
"You're not Chris," Steve said, getting out of his chair, and looking around the deserted library for help that wasn't there.  
"Yes, I am," Christopher tried, getting up himself. Also noticing the library was empty, thankfully.  
"No, you're not. Who are you?" Steve asked, suddenly going into defensive mode, now that the shock had worn off. "Who sent you?"  
"No, no! It's nothing like that! I am Chris! I swear!" he said, trying to defend himself, but seeing Steve wasn't buying it. So it looked like the truth was his only option left. "Well, not that Chris. I'm Christopher. From the future."  
"What?" Steve looked at him for a minute. He sure looked like Chris. But then, if they'd been born at the same time, they could have been twins. 'Wait! They could never have been born at the same time! At least not at the same time and be two different people. If Chris hadn't somehow gotten out of all time, he would be Christopher. All this time travel stuff is giving me a headache!' Steve thought. But sure enough, it did make sense. It's not like Christopher hadn't been in the past before. And his powers were telling him that Christopher was telling the truth. "So what are you doing here?"  
"Would you believe I screwed up a spell?" Christopher said, sheepishly. Feeling really stupid now. 'That spell should have worked!' he thought.  
"Does anyone else know you're here?" Steve asked, coming back to the table, and sitting down, nursing his hand.  
"Only Wyatt and Odin. The others think I'm Chris," he admitted, looking over at the books he'd taken. Steve followed his gaze, and noticed for the first time that they were all books on time travel.  
"What about Chris? Where is he?" Steve asked, looking at the adult version of the little boy he knew so well.  
"In my time. I think. I really screwed up," Christopher put his head in his hands, wishing Hope was there to take him back. And suddenly wondering why she hadn't brought Chris back and got him.  
"Well, Paige keeps saying that things happen for a reason. So maybe there is a reason your spell worked the way it did. Maybe you're supposed to be here right now," Steve said, trying to lift his spirits. It was so weird talking to him like this. It was usually Chris who gave him the pep talks. But this wasn't Chris, this was Christopher.  
"Yeah, maybe. I don't know," the witch-Elder said. He sat up straighter then, trying to figure out what to do next, when he noticed his friend's hand.  
"What happened to your hand?" he asked, looking at the drying blood on Steve's knuckles.  
"Oh, it ah, I had a confrontation with a wall." Now it was Steve's turn to feel stupid. He flexed his hand and felt a small but sharp pain run through his nerves. Christopher looked at him, curious. So he decided to go on. "I was angry that no one would help me vanquish my father's family. I just can't stand the thought that they'd hurt Nicki. I need them gone!"  
Christopher looked at him, feeling sorry for him, but also knowing the outcome of all this. And knowing it wasn't the outcome Steve expected. But he did know enough about what happened to help Steve find his way. And maybe Steve could help him find his way back as well.  
"Steve."  
"Yeah?"  
"What if I help you with your problem, and you help me with mine? Sound like a plan?" Christopher offered, at least then they'd both have an outlet for their troubles. And he could avoid his family.  
"Sounds like a plan!" Steve said, then they shook hands.

& & & & &

_Meanwhile in the future..._  
Chris was sitting on the sofa in the living room, unsure what to do next. _"Relax,"_ his older version had said, _"as far as I remember I stayed a couple of days before Christopher solved this little problem..."_  
'Great, just great!' Chris thought. As much as he liked this chance, it also made him feel uncomfortable... What surprises may still be out there for him? He didn't know... He really didn't know...  
Right now he was alone, taking a breath so to say. Wyatt was meeting his girlfriend and his cousin Jim, who was Paige's son and really a nice young man, was also meeting some friends... His mom was at the restaurant, and it was good for Chris to know, that they had managed to keep it as good as it was when Julian's grandma had been the boss there. So that meant, they would succeed. And Leo and Hope were up there, talking with the Elders and trying to find a different way to switch him and Christopher back. And Chris, well the older Chris, and his kids were at the school. He sighed. Actually he really didn't like to be all alone. So he decided it was time to explore this world a little bit, and the best place to start this was the golden gate bridge...  
He was just about to orb away when the front door was opened and a soft baby-cry was heard. "Anybody home?" a voice was yelling. A female voice... Bianca's voice.  
Chris stopped. A little unsure he went over to the hallway, preparing himself to see an old woman since his wife should be 50 years by now...  
But when he turned the corner he was surprised that Bianca didn't look as old as he had thought. She had a few more grams on her hips, but after 6 kids that was no miracle. Her hair was still dark and thick and when she turned to him she saw that, even if there were some wrinkles she still had those beautiful shining eyes and that beautiful little nose and that beautiful smile. "Wow..." he muttered.  
Bianca looked at him confused as she picked the little boy out of the pram. "Is everything ok?"  
Chris slowly went closer and looked at the little baby in her arms. He was perfect, same as his mom, and he reminded him a lot of Hope. He looked up at the older version of his wife and smiled at her full of love, which let the woman become a little uneasy, since she still thought the man by her side was Christopher.  
"I just noticed that you are perfect... you both are," he said.  
"Christopher, what's going on here?" she asked confused.  
Now Chris realised that she didn't know and smiled embarrassed. "Well..." he said, scratching his head, "not Christopher, just Chris... mini-me kind of let us switch positions in time."  
The Phoenix looked at him blankly for a moment, then she gasped. "Chris?" she asked. The man just nodded and seconds later he was pulled into a one-arm-hug.

& & & & &

_Back in our time...  
_Julian was sitting on the computer watching a live-picture from the magic school. He watched Steve, to be exact, because he was a little bit worried about that young man. He wished he could help him, but as long as the boy wasn't ready to accept who he was, there was no chance. But at least this way he could make sure that the man wouldn't do anything stupid again.  
Staring at the picture, he followed the conversation Steve had with Nicki, frowning. He really felt pity for both of them. Then he watched Steve go to the library where Chris(topher) was sitting bend over some books, he watched them how they talked...  
"Wow," he muttered, and then called loudly, "B.! COME OVER HERE, QUICK!"  
A moment later the red demon flamed in: "What's wrong?" But Julian just turned the speakers louder and mentioned for him to listen...  
_"No, no! It's nothing like that! I am Chris! I swear!" they heard the man say, "Well, not that Chris. I'm Christopher. From the future."  
_"Oh my God..." the demon muttered, and Julian just nodded.  
They listened a little more to the conversation and the more they talked the more they both shook their heads.  
"We need to do something..." Belthazor said.  
Julian nodded: "I completely agree." And with those words he shimmered away.  
Belthazor turned his attention back to the screen where he saw the two young man shake hands.  
_"Ok, so where do we start?"_ he heard Steve ask.  
And right when Chris wanted to answer something the demon saw how Julian shimmered in. He observed how the other two looked at him confused as the demonic witch stormed over to Chris. _"No time for explanations,"_ he heard Julian say. Then he saw him grab Christopher's arm and shimmer with him away, leaving a confused Steve behind  
The next second both Julian and Christopher appeared in their cave.  
"What the hell is all this about?" the witch-Elder asked confused.  
"What this is about?" Julian asked. "What the hell are you thinking Christopher?"  
"You..." he was busted, he couldn't believe it. Then he saw the picture of the library at the screen and smirked. 'Great...'  
Now the source approached the young man who was looking at him confused for a moment. "Belthazor?" he asked.  
But the source was in no mood for talkings he just asked: "Do you have any idea how much trouble you can curse by interfering with Steve's problem... Never heard of future consequences????"

* * *

_(Chapter 3 written by Kirianna Ledräen and Chrissy.W.x)_


	4. Chapter 4

**A Charmed Story - Part Thirteen:  
Freaky Friday  
Chapter 4**

It had taken Odin a moment to get a hold on his fellow Elder. Silas had been in a meeting with a new whitelighter who had just died a couple of hours ago, and needed now some guidance to accept his new situation. But then he had been able to drag his friend to his private room and told him what had happened, while Silas was pacing in front of him.  
"That's not good," the blonde Elder sighed when his friend had ended his report. Then he stopped his pacing and turned to face Odin: "So Christopher is here because of a spell... Why doesn't he write a reverse spell?"  
"Silas for God's sake, I'm not stupid... of course we already tried that."  
"Well... I guess then we can't do much. I mean, if this spell was meant to show him his way in life with the burden of the sword, then maybe he's here to just achieve that..." Silas then said and finally sat down on the couch where Christopher had sat before.  
Odin sighed and nodded: "I'm afraid you're right..." he looked down at his white carped and noticed some dark spots, probably from when the kid had been up there with him earlier. He smiled about this. But then his thoughts turned serious again. "I just wonder if we can help the boy through this in any way..."  
Now Silas sighed, but he also didn't know what to do. Then he suddenly frowned: "What about Chris?"  
"What do you mean?"  
"Well, if he's really in the future... don't you... I mean, I'm sure this will be a fun experience for him, to know how his life will turn out, but... Doesn't he risk his future by being there? The knowledge itself of what will happen can be enough to let it not happen...?"  
Odin thought about that for a moment. Then he shook his head: "No... not Chris. He knows the consequences of time travel first hand, he will be able to handle the information he'll get in the right way, I'm sure."  
Silas sighed again: "I hope you're right..."

& & & & &

Paige was hard at work, still grading papers, when she heard a soft knock on the door. Looking up, annoyed, she stared at the door for a moment, wondering if she should pretend she wasn't there. Another knock. Sighing, she put her head down, shaking it all the while.  
"Come in," she said, exasperated.  
"Hey. Are you busy?" Phoebe asked, poking her head gingerly inside, before coming in. She could tell from the look on her half-sister's face that Paige was very busy.  
"Yeah. Papers. Lots of them," the whitelighter said, motioning to the large pile in front of her.  
"It never seems to end, does it? But I won't take up much of your time," Phoebe said, as she sat in the chair across from her sister.  
"Okay. What is it? What do you need?" Paige asked, after taking a deep breath. She really wanted to get all these papers graded and get home early. Kyle would be waiting, and she couldn't wait to spend some much deserved down time with him.  
"Well, I was looking for a symbol, and I can't find the book on runes. Or the one on ancient symbology. You haven't seen them, have you?" Phoebe asked. That tattoo the Senator had, was still seared in her brain. She'd been looking for it for a couple of hours now, without any success. She had taken as many books as she could carry from the library and gone to her office, so she wouldn't be disturbed by the flow of students as soon as there was a break during the detention classes.  
"Runes? Ancient Symbology?" Paige said, thinking. "I don't think I've seen either of those books in months. Sorry."  
"It's okay. I guess I'll just have to go look some more. Later," the Empath said as she got up and left. She heard Paige give her reply as she exited the office.  
Phoebe turned down the hall, and headed for the library. She was still thinking about that tattoo, when she absently bumped into Nicki.  
"Oh, I'm so sorry! I wasn't looking where I was going," she apologized.  
"It's okay. I wasn't looking where I was going either," Nicki said, trying to muster a smile, but failing miserably.  
Phoebe's power kicked in then, telling her something was wrong. "Oh, honey, what happened?" she asked, sympathetically, feeling for the young woman.  
"It's Steve. We got in a bit of a fight. He's so hell bent on destroying his demonic family..." Nicki said, starting to tear up a little.  
Phoebe moved next to her and put her arm around the young witch, trying to comfort her. "Oh, I am an expert on boyfriends who try to get rid of their demons," she said, starting to lead Nicki towards the library.  
"Yeah, I guess you would be. What with Cole..." Nicki said, feeling like she might have insulted Phoebe.  
But Phoebe just laughed. "It's alright, sweetie. Hey, you don't happen to know where I can find the book on runes or ancient symbology, do you?" she asked, changing the subject for a minute.  
"I thought I saw them in the library a few days ago. Why?" Nicki said, letting herself be lead down the hall.  
"I need them to find a symbol I've been looking for. I just can't seem to find it," the Charmed One said.  
"Well, there is a better book then either of those. I can show it to you. It's in the library," Nicki said, trying to be helpful.  
"Good. I'd hoped you'd say that," Phoebe said, smiling. "You know, the first time Cole wanted to be good, it was a disaster..." she said as she continued to lead Nicki down the hall.

& & & & &

Christopher just smirked at the source. Somehow the way the demon looked was amusing, and nothing compared to the Belthazor he was used to. But still there was a question to answer, a question that actually hurt him a little.  
"You really think I'm that stupid? I tell you what, I DID learn my lesson. I won't spoil my future again, so stop worrying and go and mind your own business."  
The source eyed the young man, his face unimpressed. But inside him he felt conflicted. On one had he wanted to rip his head off for his lack of respect, but on the other it amazed him how careless he talked to him - the source of evil. Somehow that let his hopes rise for a future where there would be a closer contact to the Halliwells, something he wished for since Chris had been down in his cave with the kids.  
"So what is it that you want to do then? It sounded like you wanted to solve things for Steve and..." Julian then said.  
But Christopher interrupted him, his arms folded in front of his chest. "No... That was not my intention," he said glaring at Julian before he turned back to Belthazor. "As you already found out I'm stranded here, and I hope he could help me find my way home, since the Steve I know is always a man with good ideas... And in turn I wanted to help him by giving him my ears, voice and sympathy. I simply wanted to support him. But what he feels mostly right now is left alone with his problem... Because, from what I heard, YOU actually send him away."  
Now the source sighed: "We had to, through we don't like this more than you do. But Steve is so hell bound on killing the whole clan that there is nothing we could do to change his mind."  
Christopher now nodded. Then he said: "So I take it you want him to accept what he is... Well, maybe that's something I could do, talk to him about it... subtile of course."  
"So this actually IS the right way? For him to accept that he has a dark side?" Julian asked.  
The witch-Elder now smirked: "Sorry, can't tell you that... Future consequences."

& & & & &

_Meanwhile in the future...  
_When Bianca pulled him into a hug Chris instinctively put his arms around her waist to hold her close. It felt good, familiar. It was the first thing in this weird future that felt absolutely right. He breathed in her scent, which hadn't change at all, and before he knew what he did he kissed her.  
It was a slow kiss, but full of love and passion, from both sides. But right then one year old Liam claimed the attention for himself again and let out a cry. Chris quickly pulled away and when he realised what he had just done, he looked down to his shoes, blushing deeply. "Sorry..." he muttered.  
Bianca just smiled at him as she rocked the little boy a little to make him calm down. Then she said: "Oh no... Don't be sorry for making me feel like I'm 30 again."  
Chris couldn't help but smile, still he wasn't able to look at her. "Maybe but I shouldn't have done it... I mean, you're his wife not mine and..."  
Now Bianca laughed, making Chris look up at her, feeling even more embarrassed. Then she said: "Really Chris, you're incredible. But believe me when I tell you, if your older version would have mind this, then he would have been here to stop you. And technically I am your wife, so stop worrying."  
The Elder-witch nodded, his face still red like a tomato. Then - to change the topic, he asked looking at the small boy: "Can I have him."  
Bianca looked from the kid to Chris and said: "Sure... actually you can change his diaper..."  
Chris smiled at this and nodded: "Sure... I'd love to." But before he went over to the stairs he looked at Bianca again: "I meant what I said. You are perfect, and I'm so proud that you are my wife. You are more then I ever hoped to have."  
Now it was Bianca who blushed. "Thanks," she muttered, "but I have to give that compliment back to you, because I'm proud that I have you... And the wonderful kids you gave me."  
Chris grinned. "Yeah I already heard that we had been really busy on that part," he said making Bianca smile again.  
Right that moment the front door was opened and a young girl, maybe 12 or 13 years old entered the manor. She was dressed in a light blue dress with matching shoes and handbag, and her dark blonde hair was pulled back into a pony tail while some streaks were falling in her face, hiding her green eyes.  
"Hey Prisca," Bianca greeted, "How was your date?"  
The girl looked up and her and made a face. "Remind me to never go out with a boy again until they start to grow facial hair at least..." This statement made the woman laugh and even Chris had to smirk. Somehow he liked this girl right from the start.  
But then he wondered: "Sorry, but... would you mind telling me who you are?"  
Prisca looked at him as if he had grown a second head. Then she stated: "Your sister, idiot!"  
Chris looked back at her shocked, his smirk vanished, his face blank. Sure she looked a lot like Piper through her hair was more Leo's... But still all he could say was: "My what?"

& & & & &

_Back in our time...  
_"Well, I hope you remember that when you're talking to him," Julian told Christopher, not liking that the young man knew things that he didn't.  
"Hey, I can handle it. I'm part Elder, after all. Telling people things without telling people things is my specialty," the young man said, his smirk growing into a mischievous grin.  
'Cocky brat,' Belthazor thought, shaking his head. He stepped closer to Christopher, hoping his size would intimidate him. "The future is hanging on how vague you can be. Don't screw it up!" he told him, scowling.  
"Easy, Red," The Elder-witch snickered, putting his hands up in concession, and moving around Belthazor. "Don't worry, I know what I'm doing. And being vague is an art..." he caught himself as he saw Phoebe and Nicki heading to the library on a monitor. "Form that... I gotta go." And he orbed away.  
Julian looked at Belthazor, not knowing if he should be happy they possibly found a solution to the problem that was Steve, or worried that the future might get screwed up again.

& & & & &

Christopher orbed into the library at Magic School, and quickly located Steve, who was looking through a book. "Steve! We gotta go. Now!" he said urgently.  
"Why? What's going on? What did Julian want?" Steve said, getting up. Christopher moved next to him, ready to orb him somewhere else.  
"No time. We have to go now!" he said agitated, looking back at the door, knowing Phoebe and Nicki would be coming through it at any moment.  
"But why? What's going on, Chris...?"  
"Phoebe and Nicki are coming," the man from the future said, cutting Steve off. Steve, now worried himself, quickly took Christopher's extended hand, and they orbed away.  
Moments later they reappeared on top of the Golden Gate Bridge.  
"Wow," Steve simply said, taking in the view. He'd been there once with his mom, but back then he really had no interest for his surroundings. And now that he did look around, he was amazed at the view.  
Christopher, meanwhile, sat against one of the pylons, and let out a sigh of relief. Glad he didn't have to worry about his empathic aunt finding him out. For a moment he thought about talking to Steve right away, but when he saw the man staring at the skyline of the city he decided to give him some time. Steve would start talking on his own when he was ready...

& & & & &

"DING! DONG!"  
Piper sighed and cleaned herself to answer the door. Still with the towel in her hands she opened the large piece of wood to look into the eyes of a woman about her own age with dark hair and a pale worried face. "Yes?" she asked.  
"I'm sorry to disturb you," the woman said. "I'm Mrs. Parker, I'm seeking for Mr. Chris Halliwell."  
"Well, he isn't here, Mrs...?" Piper tried to remember where she had heard that name before.  
"Oh... Well..." Mrs. Parker sighed. "You see, this is about my daughter Annie. Chris, he takes her to this special school once a week for 2 hours and then he brings her back home after that... But he hasn't brought her back so far today and I was just getting worried and..." Now the woman was close to tears.  
Piper had understood who she was as soon as she had heard her daughter's name. Annie. That little girl who was able to see the aura of magical beings, through she was still not magical, not at all... Chris had told her a little about that girl, also that he took her to magical school so that she learned to deal with her ability better. She and her sisters even had met that girl once, and she had told her that she would shine in a bright yellow, _"as if she was a sun"_... Phoebe on the other hand was just red and pink, while Paige was _"as colorful as a meadow full of summer flowers"_.  
But still this woman was standing at her door so Piper pulled herself out of her thoughts and asked her in. "Take a seat," she said and lead her to the living room. Then she turned to the ceiling and yelled: "Chris!" Nothing "CHRIS PERRY HALLIWELL GET YOUR ASS DOWN HERE! YOU HAVE A VISITOR!"  
Again nothing...  
Piper sighed while Mrs. Parker looked shyly around. "Ok," the Charmed One said then, "seems he's out of reach but we'll get your daughter... Don't worry." And then - turning around to the kitchen she called: "LEO!"

& & & & &

Steve sighed as he looked over the city. It was a really beautiful view... calming.  
Christopher had watched him for a while, not saying anything. He knew Steve would need a moment to calm down and... get used to this place. After all it seemed to him Steve hadn't been there much often before.  
While they sat there silently, Christopher remembered how he had felt when he was up there the first time. He remembered how Leo brought them, and how Chris was waiting for them with a picnic. He had been four back then...  
But after a while Christopher felt like it was time to start. So he sighed and said: "So what exactly is your problem..." And when Steve looked at him frowning he added: "I mean, I got it that your demonic family wants to get to you but..."  
"They aren't my family," Steve interrupted him, his voice filled with anger.  
The witch-Elder just shrugged: "Yeah... whatever..."  
"No Christopher, I mean it," the half demon went on. "They are rude and dirty and disgusting, they are animals, and the attacked Nicki! I'm nothing like them. They aren't family. Mom is family, and Nicki is, and Tom and Veronica are, and even you in a way... but them? No NEVER!"  
Christopher had just looked at the man with out any sign of reaction. He just looked at him blankly while Steve's anger rose with every word. Now that the demon-Elder (or whatever you should call him) stared back at him, his eyes shining with fury, but without saying any other word, he asked: "Finished now?"  
At this Steve jumped up angry: "Do you think that's a joke, or what? Are you thinking 'oh let's make some fun of Steve while I'm in the past' or something?"  
"No," Christopher said, still calm, through the other one was standing over him now, his eyes flashing to a dangerous yellow. "I just sit here because I want to help you, but for this I need some more details. So when you've finished your rant then it would be nice if you sit back down again and tell me what's going on."  
For a moment Steve just started back at him without a sign that he had heard what the witch-Elder had said, then he blinked and while his eye color turned back to normal he sat down again. Then he sighed and muttered: "Sorry..."  
Christopher just nodded then asked: "So...?"  
Steve turned to look over the city again. "I don't know," he began, "I mean, since the day I found out that I'm half demon... it never really mattered to me. But when those bastards came and attacked Nicki..." he sighed again and looked down at the ring on his finger. It matched the engagement ring that he had given to her on Christmas, just in this case the N and the S were engraved at the inside of it. "I love her so much, you know? She means everything to me. I doubt I'd be able to go on without her. And when this demon attacked her and I found out that..." Again he sighed. "I just want to marry her, build a family... I just wish they'd be all dead so that we could live in peace... But right now I'm not even sure if she still wants me."  
"Well," Christopher said after there was nothing more that his friend said, "as far as I know you and Nicki are married since... since forever. You're happy together, always have been."  
At this Steve looked up: "Really? Do we... do we have kids in the future?"  
Now the witch-Elder realized what he had said and clapped his hand over his mouth. "Oh shit... Chris will kill me."  
"I won't tell him," Steve said as he jumped up again, and Christopher could see that he was about to lose his control again.  
So he turned away from him and looked over the skyline of the city, and said as calm as possible: "I can't tell you... I'm sorry, I've already said too much."  
Steve just looked at him, now with hurt shining in his eyes. "Then why are we here, when you won't tell me anything?"  
"I didn't say that," Christopher replied looking back at him. "I just said I can't talk about the future, but about things related to this time we CAN talk." He made a short break to watch the changing emotions that were visible in Steve's eyes. Then he asked: "So what do you think why they are after you?"  
"Why? Well, because they want me to join them, because they wanna use me, because I'm one of their own?"  
"Are you sure?" the witch-Elder asked. "And if so, why now? Why not years before?"  
Now Steve sighed and sat back down again. Then he looked at Christopher, his eyes now sad and helpless. "I don't know..."

& & & & &

_In the future..._  
"My what?" Chris had asked shocked.  
"Yes, your sister, Moron! What, have you been sniffing potions again?" Prisca said to Chris. Chris looked at her, shocked, the thought still not sinking in.  
"My...? Sniffing potions?" Chris asked, trying to get his head around the strange expression.  
"Idiot," the girl said, exasperated.  
"Prisca..." Bianca said while laughing, when a cell phone rang. Prisca pulled it out of her purse, and answered it.  
"Hi Sonia! You wouldn't believe what a dork Jonathan is!..." she said into the phone, as she moved past Bianca and Chris and headed up to her room, talking all the way. Chris followed her with his eyes, jaw hanging open in disbelief.  
"I have a sister?" he finally managed. Bianca couldn't help but laugh, and upon hearing his mother's laughter, Liam let out his own little giggle. They both looked at their youngest, then, relishing the sweet sound reaching their ears.  
"Yes, you have a sister. She was quite the surprise, actually. And I'm sure you can imagine how protective Wyatt and Christopher are of her... and you. She's becoming quite the independent young woman. As you surely noticed," Bianca explained, chuckling at the last. Chris couldn't help but laugh, too. He looked back towards the stairs where his little sister had disappeared just moments before.  
"Yeah, she seems pretty grown up," he had to agree. Thinking a moment, he then added: "'sniffing potions'? Whatever happened to 'sniffing glue'?" Bianca burst out laughing at this, making Liam laugh again, as well.  
"Yes, daddy is funny, isn't he?" she said to her little boy, caressing his cheek. Chris shook his head, suppressing a laugh, at this. "Times change. So do expressions. And Prisca is a witch. So 'sniffing potions' makes more sense to her then 'sniffing glue'," she explained.  
"So much has changed. It's so different from the future we came from," he said, looking at his son, and remembering the awful future he had come from. Liam started to squirm in his arms then, pulling Chris out of his thoughts.  
"Yes, things have changed quite a bit. For the good," Bianca said, watching her son fuss in Chris's arms. "And speaking of change, Liam still needs to be." A big smile crossed her face then, and Chris smiled back.  
"Right. Not a problem," he told her. And looking at his son again, he said while heading towards the stairs: "Come on buddy. Let's get you all freshened up." But halfway on the stairs he stopped again. A little embarrassed he asked: "Emm... where do I do it???"

& & & & &

_Back in our time...  
_Tiredly Cole closed the bathroom door. 'What a day,' he thought and hoped there would be no more demon attack today. That close meeting with that energy ball had been enough for one day, not to mention that guy who burned his toast this morning. He was really getting tired of all this. Maybe he should call his brother to ask him what's going on down there. But no, he didn't want to appear weak in Belthazor's eyes. 'Still I could call, see how he's doing...' he thought as he walked back to the stairs.  
On his way, he passed the nursery and saw Bianca there, who quietly talked to Hope, who was lying in her arms. "Yeah your dad is really stupid, really stupid..." he heard her say. He smiled, but then he noticed the tears in her eyes. So he knocked on the door.  
"Can I come in," he asked when she looked up, hastily drying her tears.  
"Yeah..." she answered and rocked her daughter a little more.  
Cole stepped closer and closed the door behind him. "I heard what you said... Do you like to talk about it?"  
Bianca shrugged: "It's nothing..."  
"Oh it doesn't look like nothing..." He sighed: "You know you can tell me, do you?"  
She nodded: "I know... I just don't know what's going on..."  
Cole nodded and guided her to one of the chairs to sit down. Then he took her hand and asked: "What happened?"  
"I don't know... This morning everything was fine, we had a good time when we came home from shopping earlier... Then he went after Steve and when he came back he was... I don't know, I had almost the feeling he didn't want me to be near." Bianca explained, now sobbing again.  
Cole sighed and put an arm around her to give her some comfort. "I'm sure it's not like that, he loves you," he tried.  
But the Phoenix went on: "He didn't eat with us and when I brought him some food later he said he was fine when I asked. But I know he was lying. And then he got pretty angry and we had a fight. He said he wanted to be left alone. Then he said it's because of all the demons, but I knew it was a lie..."  
"Well, maybe it's not... maybe he is worried about that as we all are... maybe..."  
"No," Bianca interrupted him, looking at him. "Since this demon played with his mind he promised me to always talk to me, to always tell me when something is wrong. And he did. He even did before that. But today... it's almost as if he's a different person."  
Cole sighed and rubbed her back. Then he thought back to that premonition he had. It was about Chris, that he was sure about. Maybe Bianca really had a point there and something was going on with his nephew...? But right now he needed to calm her down, so he continued to rub her back and said: "Shhh... stop crying. I'm sure everything will be alright..."

* * *

_(Chapter 4 written by Kirianna Ledräen and Chrissy.W.x)_


	5. Chapter 5

**A Charmed Story - Part Thirteen:  
Freaky Friday  
Chapter 5**

Piper had to admit that Leo looked kind of cute when he came into the hallway, with a cup in his hand, drying it with the towel he had with him. He had helped her clean the dishes. "Yeah?" he asked when he saw they had a guest.  
"This is Mrs. Parker," Piper introduced her, "Annie's mom. Chris should have brought the girl home by now, but as you may guess he hasn't." The woman's voice was a little bitter by now. She sighed and went over to him to take the towel and the cup while she said: "Could you maybe get her and then find out what's going on with your son...?"  
Leo raised an eyebrow: "Now it's my son? I see..." Then he grinned and orbed away.  
"I'm sorry if I caused any trouble..." Mrs. Parker said.  
But Piper just smiled at her as she hung the towel over her shoulder: "Don't worry... Chris is just a little weird today. He caused the trouble, not you."  
Right the same moment Leo orbed back in with Annie on his arm. The girl was smiling brightly at him. Then she noticed her mom. "Mommy! Miss Leenet and I made a cake today..." she said when Leo put her down.  
"Oh really?" her mother asked. And when the girl nodded she went on: "And? Was it a nice cake?"  
"It was a chocolate cake," Annie explained.  
"Shall I orb you home?" Leo asked then.  
But Mrs. Parker shook her head: "No thank you, but I'm here with the car." Then she turned to her daughter: "What do you think? Shall we grab a movie on our way home and watch it later?" At this question Annie's eyes lit up and she nodded eagerly. "Ok, then say goodbye to our hosts."  
Annie turned around and shook hands with Piper saying goodbye. Then she turned to Leo and said: "You are almost as bright as Chris." Leo looked at her a little embarrassed but she just waved at him and said goodbye, too.  
Also Mrs. Parker said goodbye and thanked them again. Then they both left.  
When Piper had closed the door behind them, she turned around to her husband again: "So... where is he this time?"  
Leo closed his eyes for a moment to sense for his son. When he opened them again he looked into the eyes of Piper who was staring at him expectantly. "He's at the bridge," he said, "with Steve... I guess they are talking."  
"Talking? He's responsible for this girl as long as she is at the school, but instead of taking care of her he's talking with Steve?"  
"Well," Leo said with a sigh, "as far as I know, Steve struggles still with those demons that are after him... If I had to guess I'd say what ever is going on between him and Chris right now has to do with that..."  
"But..."  
"No buts..." Leo stopped her. "You would be a little out of mind, too, if you would find that a whole clan of demons is after you, and to top it, this clan is your family... wouldn't you?"  
Piper pouted but then nodded: "Yeah I would..."  
The Elder smiled at his wife, hugging her. "I'm sure this is important, otherwise Chris would have taken care of Annie."  
"I know..."  
They stood there like this, hugging each other, for a few more moments. Then Leo let her go and took the towel: "And now... we have a job to finish..." He smiled at Piper who was grinning at him. Then he turned around and went back to the kitchen, knowing she would follow him.

& & & & &

_Meanwhile in the future..._  
When Chris left the bathroom with baby-Liam in his arms, he saw how Prisca crossed the hallway hand disappeared into the room where they used to keep the kid's toys and a spare bed for Bianca and him in the past. 'Probably her room now,' he thought. He shook his head and went over to knock.  
After he had heard a 'yeah' from the other side of the door, he opened it a little and peeked inside: "Can I come in? I'd like to talk to you for a moment."  
"Sure," the girl said, who was lying on her stomach doing... homework?  
'Wow,' Chris thought impressed, since he never had done his homework without 'mom's order'. While he observed her, he had sat down by her side.  
"What?" she asked, noticing his look.  
He shook his head: "Nothing, I'm just amazed..."  
"Huh???" She looked at him frowning. "Did you run into a demon lately or something? Because you are really acting more weird than usual..."  
Now Chris laughed, which made his sister frown even more. But then he explained, or better tried to, while he observed the little boy in his arms: "I'm not who you think I am, that's probably the reason."  
"Yeah, sure..." Prisca stated and turned her attention back to her work, now absolutely sure that her brother was just trying to play a joke.  
But Chris went on: "Well... does messing up a spell for finding out how to deal with Excalibur sound more like your bother?"  
Now the girl looked up and Chris was almost scared when he saw the same look in her eyes like the one his, no... their mom gave him whenever he got himself into trouble. "What have you done this time?" she asked... and again so much like Piper.  
"Me? Nothing!" Chris complained. And when he saw her doubtful look he added: "Christopher cast as spell that brought him to the past and me here!"  
Now Prisca looked at him as if he had grown a second head, then she sat up: "You mean...????"  
"Yeah, I'm Chris... just a 23 years younger Chris, who was a little shocked to find out that he'll have a sister in the future..."  
"Oh my God..." was all the girl could say. And a couple of seconds later she muttered "Wow..." before grinning like mad and hugging him. Then she looked at him again and asked: "But I am a nice surprise, right?"  
Now Chris laughed and hugged her with one arm, still holding Liam with the other: "Of course you are..."  
Prisca then looked at him again and smiled: "I should have known that you are not Christopher... you look less stupid... Through you did look stupid down there in the hallway..."  
Again the Elder-witch laughed. "I bet we both have a lot of fun together..."  
The girl nodded: "Yeah as long as neither mom nor Bianca find out what we do..." Then she turned serious again: "So who have you met so far... well except Bianca and the youngest member of our weird family?"  
Chris sighed: "Well I met myself and Matthew and Kevin and I also heard about the twins, through I haven't met them yet... Oh and I also met Hope, Wyatt and our cousin... Jim?" And when he saw Prisca nod he added: "And mom and dad..."  
"Yeah well... that's far away from everyone, but it's a start."  
"What do you mean?" he asked, his voice a little scared. "Do I have any more siblings I don't know about?"  
Now Prisca laughed again: "No, just some cousins, girl- and boy-friends and god-children... No more siblings."  
Chris just wanted to answer something when Liam made himself notice by crying softly. The Elder-witch tried to calm him down but it didn't really work. "I guess he's hungry..." he said and stood up. "If you have time later I'd love to talk some more with you..."  
The girl nodded: "Sure... I just need this homework to be done... I'll come down as soon as it's finished."  
Chris nodded, then he left the room, searching for his wife.

& & & & &

_Back in the Present...  
_After having spent a calm, relaxing morning at the beach in each others arms, Tom and Veronica decided it was time to head back to work. After all, they each had a class to prepare for the next week and they wanted to do that this afternoon. Veronica had been asked to take over the potions class for the next week, since the regular teacher was out collecting some rare ingredients.  
Tom shimmered them into the grand hallway, just as detention was letting out, and so they ended up in the middle of a large pile of students. One not so lucky student, a sixth year, didn't have time to get out of the way as they shimmered in, and subsequently ran into Tom. Veronica just caught the boy's arm before he landed on the floor, but his books weren't so lucky.  
"I'm so sorry!" the boy kept saying, over and over, horrified that he'd walked into a teacher.  
"It's alright," Tom told him, smiling at the boy's nervousness. He and Veronica helped the boy pick up his books, amid the snickering of some of the boy's classmate, who stood farther down the hall, watching.  
"Thank you," the boy said shyly, then vanished from sight, turning invisible to avoid further taunts. Tom turned on the other boys, putting on his stern teacher's face.  
"Don't you boys have something else to do?" he asked, staring them down. Their cheerful expressions just vanished at the look from their teacher, and they quickly turned and headed to class. "This is one of those times, I wish I was telekinetic," Tom said, a mischievous grin forming on his lips.  
"Tom! You're a teacher! You can't go around taunting the students!" Veronica said in mock astonishment, then laughed.  
"What? You don't think they deserve it?" he continued in jest, as they walked down the hallway.  
"Deserve a taste of their own medicine? Haven't you learned from the Charmed Ones that using magic in 'an-eye-for-an-eye' situation can only lead you down the dark path?" she said, starting to turn serious.  
"When did the Charmed Ones ever end up in such a situation?"  
"Oh, about, six or seven years ago. Back when Prue was still alive," she stopped herself as she passed by Paige's office, the door partly open, and glanced Paige sitting at her desk, still correcting papers. She watched the youngest Charmed One for a moment before Tom interrupted her.  
"Well? What happened?" he asked, suddenly curious. Veronica pulled herself out of her daze, and continued down the hall a few paces before she continued.  
"The sisters were having a problem with one of their neighbors. He never cleaned up after his dog, who did its business on their front steps. So they used magic to teach him a lesson. But the whole thing turned on them when they ended up taking a trip to the future where Phoebe was being burned at the stake. Once they learned their lesson, they realized that the whole thing had started with that moment," she narrated.  
"Wow! How do you even know that?" he asked as they approached the library.  
"It's the sisters' history. If you cared to look, you could find out quite a bit about them," she said slyly, her own mischievous grin tugging at her lips.  
Tom shook his head, smiling. "So, you don't think those kids need a lesson?" he asked a moment later, as they reached the library door.  
"Oh, they need a lesson. Like, say, a thousand word essay on why you don't make fun of people," she said as she backed into the library.  
"That won't do much to change them," he said, following her in.  
"Maybe not, but while they are writing the essay, they won't have the time to tease anyone," she said, still backing up.  
"And what if they just do it worse next time?" he asked, putting his arms around her waist and pulling her close.  
"Then we say the essay is strike one. Strike two could be a temporary power bind," she said, her mischievous smile fully engulfing her face, now.  
"Oh, you're bad!" Tom said, pulling her even closer.  
"Yes, really bad," a voice behind them said, startling them. "So bad in fact, I don't think the Elders would approve."  
Tom looked up and Veronica turned around to see Phoebe and Nicki sitting at a table looking through some books. It was Phoebe who had spoken. "Phoebe! Nicki! Ah hi! I, we didn't know you were here," he said, feeling shy all of a sudden. Like a kid who had just been caught with his hand in a cookie jar.  
"Hi," Nicki said, laughing at her embarrassed friends.  
"We were just kidding. We would never do that!" Veronica said, defensively.  
Phoebe just laughed. "It's okay. Your secret is safe with me. And to tell you the truth, there are a few students who I would love to bind their powers for a little while," she told them, giving them a wink.  
They both smiled relieved, and approached the table. "So what are you two looking for in all these books?" Tom asked, picking one of the books up.  
"A very particular symbol that just seems to keep eluding me," Phoebe said, frustrated.  
"We've been looking forever, it seems. We just can't seem to find it," Nicki said, feeling disappointed. Even the book she'd thought earlier would help, hadn't. At least she'd managed to get some good advice about Steve.  
"Well, we have some time before we have to prepare our classes. How about we help?" Veronica offered.  
"Thank you! We can use all the help we can get!" Phoebe said, handing them each a book.

& & & & &

_In the future..._  
The manor was pretty quiet this afternoon, as most of the residents were out. Prisca was still in her room studying, while Bianca was in the kitchen, when Chris and Liam were just coming down the main stairs into the foyer. The little boy was still hungry, but right now he had stopped whining since he was sucking on Chris' finger, which - as Chris thought - was a very cute sight.  
The relative silence in the manor caused the slight creaking of the front door to echo throughout, and caught Chris's attention. He stopped on the stairs, staring at the door as it slowly opened, watching as a head covered in long dark hair poked inside. The girl, not seeing him, pushed the door farther open, looked behind her and whispered: "It's all clear."  
Chris watched as a second girl, identical to the first, followed after. Though the more he looked, the more slight differences he noticed, even though it was obvious they were identical twins. Most obvious was that they didn't dress alike. The first girl was wearing a black knee length skirt, pale pink blouse, and micro plaid vest. The other was wearing tight white jeans, and a purple tank top. The one with the skirt also had a few strands of blue hair, the one with the jeans, purple. He also thought he saw a tattoo on the ankle of the one with the blue streaks. Who these seventeen-year-old girls were, Chris had no idea. But one thing for sure was, they were obviously up to something.  
Chris looked down at Liam, who had stopped sucking and was now smiling and reaching out to the two young women, clearly recognizing them. He let out a little giggle then, drawing the twins' attention. The girls grew wide-eyed as Chris finished descending the stairs, fearing they'd been caught, but relaxed when they saw him fully, large smiles crossing their lips.  
"Uncle Christopher! Hi!" the one with the skirt and blue streaks said, coming up to him. She reached up and took Liam's little hand and kissed it, then caressed his head, saying, 'Hi' to him.  
"Is Mom home?" the other girl asked, looking around.  
Looking at the girls, he suddenly remembered something Kevin had told him earlier. Something about him having twin daughters.  
"Christopher?" the same girl asked, looking for her answer. Just then the front door opened again, and in walked Wyatt with a woman who had to be his girlfriend.  
"Uncle Wyatt!" the second twin said, seeing him, the same smirk on her face as before, and laughing nervously.  
"Did they call you 'uncle', too?" Wyatt asked Chris, moving to join the group.  
"Yes, they did," Chris said, looking suspiciously at the teens. They both smiled, and looked like they were ready to run for cover.  
"What are you two up to?" Wyatt asked them in a mock serious voice. His girlfriend covered her mouth to stifle a little laugh.  
"Nothing!" they said in unison.  
Of course, Wyatt didn't believe them, and neither did Chris. Wyatt looked them over for a moment, trying to figure out what was going on. Then he noticed the blue and purple streaked hair. "Natalie, Rebecca, what did you do to your hair? Your mom is going to kill you when she finds out," Wyatt told them.  
"It's just hair dye! It'll come out!" Natalie, the one with the blue streaks, said.  
"It's not like we used magic or anything," Rebecca, miss purple streaks, said sarcastically, adding under her breath, "not that we could anyway."  
A smile tugged at Chris's lips, while he imagined the trouble these two would cause him.  
"Hey, you'll be able to use magic soon enough. Even so, powers bound or not, you're not powerless," Wyatt told them.  
They both gave him an 'adults-are-stupid' look, even though he was only nine years their senior. "Is Mom home?" Rebecca asked again, looking around once more.  
"Does it matter? Your dad's here," Wyatt said, trading a glance with Chris, who tried to hide a smile.  
"Where?" both girls said together, looking around frantically. Chris, Wyatt, and his girlfriend started to laugh then, Wyatt's girlfriend obviously in on the joke.  
"Right here," Chris said, looking at the twins. This close, he could see they both resembled him, but had their mother's hair and eyes.  
And now those eyes were wide with shock. But only for a moment, then they started to laugh, thinking he was joking. "That's funny, Christopher, really! You had us going for a second, there!" Natalie said, feeling relieved.  
"So, really, is Mom home?" Rebecca asked for a third time.  
"She's in the kitchen. And I'm not joking. I am your father," Chris said seriously. Both girls looked at him, not sure if he was serious or not. Liam giggled a little at the looks on his sisters' faces, making Chris look down at him. "Yeah, you know I'm your dad, don't you, Liam," he said, shifting the little boy to his other arm.  
"You're shitting us," Rebecca said, still not sure he was telling the truth.  
"Gotta love time travel. By the way, Chris, this is Julia, my fiancée," Wyatt said, introducing his girlfriend.  
"Hello," she said, as Chris shook her hand. "Nice to meet you. Wyatt's told me so much about you."  
"Nice to meet you, too. Wyatt hasn't told me much about you," Chris said, finding this a little awkward.  
"Well, future consequences and all," Wyatt said, sheepishly. The three of them laughed. Liam laughed, too, even though he was too young to understand. The twins were still confused.  
"Well, I guess this isn't really the first time I've met you. I mean, I've met your older self before. And I know about him, ah you. This is confusing," Julia said looking up at Wyatt. He smiled down at her, a loving smile.  
"It's okay. Time travel has been known to give us all headaches, from time to time," he explained.  
"Okay, hold it! Hold on! So, you're not joking about Christopher really being Dad? Are you?" Rebecca asked, almost afraid of the answer, and bracing herself for it.  
"No, we're not joking. Christopher is in the past. He somehow switched himself with your dad," Wyatt explained. Both girls started to laugh nervously, looking at their 'dad'.  
"Chris?" a voice from the kitchen came. Bianca's voice. "Is that you?"  
The twins looked at each other, eyes wide, panic passing between them, while Liam started to whine again. "Please, Dad, don't tell her!" Natalie pleaded before taking Rebecca's hand and orbing away. Chris and Wyatt started to laugh again.  
"Chris?" Bianca's voice said nearer.  
"Yeah, it's me. And Wyatt, Julia, and a hungry Liam," he said as Bianca came around the corner from the dining room.  
"Did I just see orbs?" she asked as she joined the little group.  
"Those were your twins," Wyatt said. Bianca shook her head at the tone in his voice.  
"What did they do this time?" she asked, annoyed.  
"So are they trouble makers or something?" Chris asked, curious.  
"Oh, no more than the average seventeen year old girl. But being twins... Well, you'll see in time," Bianca said putting her hand reassuringly on Chris's shoulder, adding, "they're not that bad, really. So what did they do?" Then she took Liam from his arms and started to rock him lightly to make him calm down a little.  
"Put colorful streaks in their hair. And one might have gotten a tattoo," Chris said, tattling on his girls.  
"Tattoo? Where? On which one?" Bianca asked looking sternly at him. He almost felt like he was the one in trouble.  
"Ah, the one with the skirt, on her ankle," Chris said. Bianca looked at Wyatt, not remembering what her twins had put on this morning.  
"That would be Natalie," Wyatt said.  
"Which ankle?" Bianca asked frowning.  
"The, ah, right one. On the outside," Chris said, thinking back to when he had first seen Natalie.  
"Oh. Okay. I know about that one," she said, relaxing a bit. "So they put streaks in their hair? What colors?" She was almost afraid to ask.  
"Natalie... has blue. Rebecca... has purple," Chris said, trying to get them straight. Wyatt nodded in agreement, but said nothing. Bianca shook her head at this, not sure what to think. It was just hair after all...  
"So how do you think they were going to hide it? It is kind of obvious," Chris asked, after a moment.  
"I don't kn... Prisca!" Bianca said, suddenly figuring it out. The twins tended to ask their young aunt for magic help when they needed it, because they knew she wouldn't tell on them. And she knew she could count on them, if ever she needed help. "They'll ask Prisca to put a glamour on them, to hide it while they're at home, and remove it when they go to school," Bianca started toward the stairs, ready to scold her twin girls.  
"Wait. Don't," Chris said, holding her arm gently, and stopping her. "Let them be. Dying their hair strange colors seems like a rather minor infraction to get yelled at for," he said, trying to sooth her. Liam's whining increased at the same time, making the mother look at him.  
"You just don't want them to get mad at you for telling on them," Wyatt teased, nudging Chris in the ribs.  
"No, I don't. But that's not the point," he said, laughing a little. He looked back at Bianca, who was again looking at her sweet little boy, trying to sooth him. "You're not going to get mad at them?" he asked her sweetly.  
She let out a sigh. "No. Okay? I won't," she said, sighing again. She turned away from the stairs then, and started for the kitchen, since it was already past Liam's snack time. Chris let out a sigh of his own as Bianca disappeared from sight.  
"Haha. I can't believe she actually scares you!" Wyatt said, teasing him again.  
"Oh, yeah? Is that what you think? Let me show you something to be scared of!" Chris said, teasing Wyatt in return. Julia stood nearby as the two brothers joked around, laughing along with them, and enjoying watching them bond.

& & & & &

_Meanwhile in our time...  
_For the past hour or two, Kyle couldn't quite remember, he'd been doing paperwork at his desk. And he was bored out of his mind! Every so often he would look up and watch the hustle and bustle of the department. He hadn't been able to think of a suitable excuse to get off early, so he just focused on getting his paperwork done as fast as possible. At least he had, at first.  
"Hard at work, Turner?" a fellow police officer would say every once in a while, when passing by his desk. He knew they were teasing him, since they had been on the beat all day, and just passing through the office. Paperwork was Kyle's least favorite part of being a cop. But at least he didn't forget to cross any 'T's or dot the 'I's. At least usually. He looked down at the sheet in front of him once no one was close enough to see.  
"Tomatoes. Onions. Shrimp. Scallops," he read to himself. Since his talk with Paige earlier, he hadn't been able to get their date out of his head. And, while he was doing his real paperwork, he kept thinking about what he would make for her that night. And then it came to him. His mother's famous recipe! The one she had used to woo his father. It was the perfect meal for a romantic evening. Now if he could just remember all the ingredients.  
"Oh yes! Emmental, basil, a little garlic," he said to himself as he jotted the ingredients down. "And I definitely can't forget the Bordeaux." He made sure to underline the word 'Bordeaux' a couple of times, since it was probably the most important ingredient in the recipe. 'Now, what else am I forgetting?' he thought, staring at the list.  
"Hey, Turner!" someone called, pulling Kyle out of his thoughts.  
"Yeah?" he asked, trying to spot who had called him.  
"Grab your gun, we gotta go!" said the same man, a burly officer standing by the door. He had an urgent look on his face. Kyle quickly got up, picked up his gun and headed for the door, the big man already beyond it. He had only taken a couple of steps then turned back to his desk, grabbed his shopping list, stuffed it in his pocket, and raced out of the department.

& & & & &

_Back in the future...  
_Prisca was startled out of her studying as her twin nieces orbed into her room. She sat up on her bed, watching them as they looked around, making sure her door was closed, and that she was alone. Then they turned their attention to her.  
"What did you two do to your hair?" she asked them as they sat down on either side of her.  
"Oh, nothing much," Natalie said, grinning mischievously.  
"It's just a diversion," Rebecca continued for her, mirroring her twin's look.  
Prisca looked between the two, instantly recognizing the look on their faces. She knew then that they were about to get her in big trouble... A big trouble that, actually, would never be as big as the problems his dad and uncle had been in when young; but they didn't know that. Well, at least, they were not aware of it.  
The twins were young and careless: Life is beautiful and you have to get the best of it. Carpe Diem and all that stuff.  
And Prisca? Through she was more a serious person, she understood her nieces very well. And she kind of felt proud whenever she was able to help the older girls. She knew very well how to bend the rules for her own advantage, but she only did it here and there, and with that she kept herself out of trouble. And for the twins she was the awesome aunt that allowed everything and hid their behavior; the perfect friend. And so it was also this time, when Natalie asked: "Can you help us hiding it?"  
The younger girl rolled her eyes but then smiled: "Sure."

& & & & &

Chris and Wyatt were meanwhile laughing carefree as if everything was alright, enjoying the moment together, and the funny episode they had just witnessed minutes before. In fact, Chris seemed to be adapting to that future and time travel without too much of a drama: Everything was moving smoothly for him. His family had accepted his presence there without real worries, as if they were sure that the problem would be fixed as they always were. And was it too hard to believe?? Thinking over it... They were in the future: If things had gone the right way, they had to know by now. Or not?  
Chris would wonder about it sooner or later. Now he laughed, letting himself fall heavily on a sofa when they entered the living-room. Wyatt did the same, patting his own knee as a sign of the merriment they were living, and Julia sat timidly by his side, but smiling all the time. Yes, she loved Wyatt, and seeing him with his favorite brother the age he should be in that time, was simply a very beautiful picture. She of course knew part of the story, but... everything???  
He looked at Julia out of the corner of his eyes, as if wondering how much she knew of him, after all, and as an answer to that look, she cleared her throat, and said: "You know?? It's exactly how Wyatt always puts it. I mean... You're still awesome, but as an adult you're like..."  
Wyatt cleared his throat, leaning back on the sofa and sighing. "What she means is that meeting you as a young man, like Christopher but knowing that you're Chris... must be weird to her, right??"  
She had blushed a little, but nodded, and then completed: "You really look like his LITTLE brother."  
And Chris, by this time, and after furrowing his eyebrows more and more at every word, finally giggled again, feeling relieved: "I thought you were gonna say something really bad about me!!" And then he laughed even more. Wyatt shrugged, as Chris said: "I like being the little brother, you know?? It's awesome." And he turned his look towards Wyatt, wonderingly again, stopping his laughter, but smiling, as if many memories had just come to his mind. "He's the best big brother I can think of."  
Julia smiled back at him, and then hugged Wyatt, pressing his arm around hers. Wyatt blushed a little bit, too, this time. "He's exaggerating."  
"No, I'm not. You know, I miss you," Chris said all of a sudden, looking graver now and staring at Wyatt. His brother was also more serious now, but he didn't know what to say to that.  
Julia just nodded slowly: "I guess. All the things you lived in the past. And in your future." She looked at her fiancé and he stared at her in slight horror wondering if it was a good idea to tell him, but she knew she had to let Chris know that he could speak freely. The older Chris knew too, so...  
Chris meanwhile frowned at her, and then looked at Wyatt's eyes questioningly. He had told her EVERYTHING? That's what Julia was actually explaining now: "Wyatt, you know I'm silent as a grave, always. This is our secret. But your brother here needs to talk to you, and I want him to know he can do it freely. Future consequences will be minor, for God's sake! Just look around and all the things he has already seen and heard."  
"So..." Chris interrupted then, back from his absent-mindedness that had lasted a few seconds now, while he thought over what Julia had just said: "You know about... I mean... About my trip, and..."  
"And Wyatt being evil, and you saving his ass and all your family, and..."  
"Oh, my God..." Chris went paler and turned to look at Wyatt, who lowered his eyes as if he was talking to his older version.  
"She's family for me, Chris. My fiancée, you gotta understand that she deserved to know..."  
Of course he did. "It's ok," he said. But then he shook his head and talked to Julia: "What did he say? I mean..." He wasn't even sure what he meant himself...  
"You know, Chris... He told me the bad things and good things, and the good time he spent in the past with you, after you talked it over, and closed that terrible past forever, so don't worry. Your brother is loving and caring, and he hugs like a teddy bear, and everything is ok with him. So smile again, alright??? I didn't want to make you sad." And this time Julia sounded a bit worried, like if she felt guilty.  
Chris looked at her, as Wyatt took her hand and caressed it, before turning back to him saying: "Chris... You have your worried look, the one that says 'something should be wrong because everything seems too fine'!"  
And YES. That was his look, he felt trapped. "Really??" Wyatt really knew him well. "So then... Tell me... Is everything THAT good here?? I mean... Since I came, everyone is happy, everyone laughs, no one seems to be in trouble, everyone forgives everything easily... Damn it, it's like... The Bradies!!!"  
"The WHAT??" Julia asked feeling lost.  
Wyatt smiled and said: "Doesn't matter. Old TV show we still had to watch as kids when they were rerun on the classics channels. Forget it" Then he turned to Chris again, more serious: "Why shouldn't we be so happy, Chris?"  
His brother shrugged, uncomfortable: "Dunno... ahmmm... Everyone has some kind of problems. Being all this happy family like in a chick flick looks like... Like problems. You know. Like a DEMON problem. That, or you're hiding things from me."  
"Well, kid. You should be worrying about going back to the past and bringing Christopher back to the future. That's the only problem we have now, and it's enough." And Wyatt sounded maybe for the first time like the authoritative brother he could have been for him, and was for Christopher. But the weird feeling didn't leave Chris, so he nodded very slowly, but unconvinced, and Julia looked at him a bit unsure.  
"Yeah..." Chris muttered, lowering his eyes. "But maybe there's some problem and that's why I am here."  
"MayBE. Whatever. We should have some fun, now." Wyatt said, determined. Then he stood up, and Julia did the same, holding his hand. And Chris was about to do so, too, but at that moment, something hot passed by his head and hit Wyatt in the chest, making him fall.  
"WYATT!!!" Julia cried, kneeling by his side and feeling for the injuries. Wyatt just gasped, but then clenched his teeth and tried to stand up again, calling for his brother: "Chris..." he said in a hoarse voice.  
But Chris had turned and faced a demon he had never seen before. One, who was preparing another fireball to throw at him, showing an ugly smirk. The Elder-witch flipped his wrist to attack the demon with rays, but the rays passed through him... And nothing happened. Nothing but the fact that the fireball, which the demon had thrown the same moment, went straight to Chris's chest.

* * *

_(Chapter 5 written by Chrissy.W.x, Kirianna Ledräen and Belen)_


	6. Chapter 6

**A Charmed Story - Part Thirteen:  
Freaky Friday  
Chapter 6**

_Back in our time..._  
Steve and Christopher had been sitting on the bridge for nearly an hour now and it was getting a little chilly. Still both young men kept sitting there, staring down, watching the traffic pass by.  
They both had talked a lot about the behavior of the Ashon, about the how's and why's but it was hard to make Steve understand... more than Christopher had thought. In his time, Steve was at peace with himself, but here? If Christopher didn't knew what his future was like he'd be worried by now that things would turn out really bad. Or maybe he should worry? Maybe his presence in the past was making things even worse? And why was he here anyway? What had all this to do with him and that damn sword????  
"I'm afraid, Christopher..." Steve suddenly said, pulling the witch-Elder out of his thoughts.  
"Why?"  
Steve shrugged: "I'm not really sure. It's just a bad feeling in my guts that makes me afraid of the future."  
Christopher looked at him while the demon-Elder kept looking down at the traffic. He looked horrible. His skin was pale, almost grey and his eyes were a little red, with dark circles under them. Like if he hadn't slept in ages... 'Probably he hasn't...' Christopher thought. And it seemed that all of Steve's anger, which he had shown before, had vanished by now and the only thing that was left was a scared little boy. Christopher felt so much sorry for him. 'Oh Chris, why aren't you here now?' he thought looking up to the sky with a sigh.  
Right that moment blue orb lights came down to them and formed into Odin. "Blessed be," he greeted before turning to Christopher: "Do you have a moment? There is... some business to discuss..."  
Christopher smiled at his godfather and said pointing at Steve: "Don't worry, I told him..."  
The elder looked at him, raising his eyebrows before his face color changed from normal to white to red. "You did what? Christopher, don't you think you are already in enough trouble, my boy???" he exclaimed angry.  
The witch-Elder visibly became smaller at Odin's outburst, which Steve observed with a kind of amusement.  
"What were you thinking?" Odin asked then, before he turned to Steve and sent him an angry look because he was chuckling by now.  
"Nothing, Uncle Odin," Christopher said, "he found out on his own..." And when he saw his godfather looking at him in disbelieve he added: "I may have been a little careless with my words but he..."  
"No buts Christopher! This is a very delicate situation that needs to be taken of carefully and not in a careless way, you understand?"  
The witch-Elder nodded and muttered: "I know..."  
"Please Odin, don't be mad at him, he hasn't told me anything about the future... Sadly he hasn't," Steve tried to help, knowing what the Elder's greatest fear was. "We just talked about my problem, that's all..."  
The Elder now looked at the young man. He knew what kind of problem he meant, all Elder's knew it and they were all pretty worried about the situation 'one of their own' was in. And somehow those words did the trick to calm Odin down. He sighed and looked at Christopher again before he turned back to Steve: "Do you like to visit your mom? Christopher here needs to come with me, because there is something me and Silas wanna show him. But I can also send you to any other place."  
Steve grinned: "Of course I'd like to visit her for a little while..."  
Odin nodded grabbing his arm. He turned to Christopher again and said: "Follow us." Then he orbed away. The witch-Elder sighed then he followed them up to the Elder-land.

& & & & &

When they had put away the last plate, Piper and Leo went back to the living room. They both sat down on the sofa, side by side. The Charmed One sighed. Leo smiled at her and put his arms around her to hold her close. He gave her a kiss on the nose, which made her smile for a moment before she turned serious again. "Ok... What's bothering you?" he finally asked.  
Piper shrugged. She couldn't name it, it... it was just a feeling, a feeling that something was wrong and somehow this had to do with her son... Call it mother instinct, but she just knew it. "It's Chris," she finally admitted. "Something is wrong, I just don't know what..."  
Now Leo sighed and held her even closer: "I told you... he's fine. He just has a lot to do right now. And then his worries about Steve... you know how close they are. I guess it's really eating at him, that he can't help him."  
"Yeah, maybe..." Piper agreed, but only half agreeing to his words. "But why is he so... why does he close himself off from us, he never did that before. But since this afternoon he's somehow different... and then you telling me that his signal is 'unfocused' or whatever... What does that mean Leo?"  
The Elder shrugged: "I don't know what happened earlier, honey. But I told you, Odin said that it was nothing to worry about, that his signal would return to normal on it's own within the next days..."  
"I know... and I know you both belong there, but... I still have my problems with trusting them. So don't be mad at me, but Odin's opinion doesn't ease my worries..."  
Leo sighed again at those words. He knew his wife and he knew why she still felt like this. He just wanted to answer something when they heard foot steps on the stairs.  
Curious they both turned to the sound to see Cole coming down the stairs, a sheet of paper in his hand, and with Wyatt on his tail. When the parents saw their son both started to laugh. The blond 3-years old had been over and over covered in paint.  
"Oh my God... what happened?" Piper asked, still laughing.  
Cole laughed, too, as Wyatt ran over to them and climbed on his father's lab. "I made you a picture!" the boy exclaimed.  
Meanwhile Cole gave the paper to Piper who looked at it smiling. On the white sheet was a big red circle with some lines going away from it, like a sun with rays, and then there was something that looked like a spiral. At the bottom was a line in blue with some green spots on it. And there was also something that looked like a human being, just that it was all painted in yellow. And also some fingerprints where on the paper, and also on Wyatt's shirt and pants. "Oh that's a lovely picture," Piper commented. "Is that you?"  
The boy nodded eagerly. "Me, in the garden."  
"And what is that?" Leo asked pointing at the spiral-thingy.  
"That's the wind... it's windy in my picture." The boy explained.  
"Oh that's really wonderful..." Leo said. Then he stood up, the boy still in his arms and said: "But I guess the artist needs a bath now..."  
"Noooo..." Wyatt complained.  
"Oh yes," Leo added. "And the best daddy in the world will playing submarine with you... is that a deal?"  
Piper had to stifle a laugh as she saw how Wyatt's face lit up and he nodded. Both she and Cole watched as the other two went up the stairs again. Yeah, Leo really was the best daddy in the world. And the most attractive one, Piper had to admit with a smile.  
Then she heard Cole sigh and turned to him. "What?" she asked.  
Cole didn't really know how to start, then he said: "I don't know... It's just... do you have a moment to talk about..."  
"Chris?" Piper asked, before he could say it. And Cole nodded, somehow relived that he wasn't the only one who worried about him.

& & & & &

_Meanwhile in the future..._  
Julia watched in horror as Chris got hit by the fireball in his chest. She looked at Wyatt but he was barely able to hold himself upright. And that demon? That demon was just preparing another ball of fire.  
Acting on instinct she held out her hand and yelled: "Defender!" And right that moment when the demon threw his fire ball a sword appeared in her hand. With a quick move of the sword she deflected the burning thing and directed it right back at the demon that shimmered away before he got hit in the chest.  
Julia stood there, like a frozen statue, and stared at the spot where the demon had stood just moments before. Then life returned into her and she turned around to look after the others. Scared she noticed that Wyatt had passed out now, too. She just wanted to call for Chris, since they needed someone able to heal, when bluish orbing lights filled the room forming to even the person she wanted to call for and...  
"Julia, what the hell happened? Why did you call the sword???? Are you fine????" Michael asked worried.  
"Hey dad," the young woman said.  
But before she could say more both newcomers spotted the two bodies lying on the floor. With an "Oh my God" Chris was by his younger version's side and healed him, before he turned around to do the same for his brother. "What happened?" he asked then, while past-Chris slowly came back to his senses.  
"Well... I'm not really sure, there was... a demon," Julia explained. "He got Wyatt and then Chris and... I'm not sure what happened then, I felt like being on autopilot. But I guess Wyatt's training helped."  
Chris just nodded but Michael had none of that. "Helped?" he asked. "That boy only puts you into danger!"  
"But dad...!" the young woman exclaimed.  
Meanwhile past Chris and Wyatt got back to their feet. And while the latter put his arms protectively around his girl and glared at his future father in law, Chris just looked confused from one to the other. Then his eyes stopped on Michael who was just throwing a fit as it seemed.  
"... won't let you do that... it's too dangerous and..." Michael ranted.  
"Oh come on," Wyatt interrupted him, "if you wouldn't be so stubborn Julia would be much better in sword fighting than you are. And you know I would never let anyone hurt her."  
"Yeah and you just proved your words in a very impressing way," Michael shot back angry. "And we both know that your little bro..." There he stopped, because for the first time since he arrived he took the time to look at past-Chris... And through he couldn't name what it was, he just knew that this man in front of him wasn't Christopher... It was Chris. So he just went over to hug him tightly, muttering: "Oh my God... what are you doing here?"  
"You... you recognize me?" Chris asked after he pulled away.  
Michael nodded smiling: "Of course I do... so what are you doing here?" And both Chrises chuckled at that.  
"Mini-me messed up a spell, switched places with him," the older Chris then explained and quickly added: "Sorry, hadn't the chance to tell you before."  
Michael turned around to him and then to his daughter. "See," he said, "that's why we don't want this life for you... this boy means trouble and he drags his brother into it all the time."  
"Hey, Christopher is not that bad," Wyatt defended his brother's honor.  
Michael just wanted to raise the word again when past-Chris rose his hands and exclaimed. "Ok! Stop it, will you?" And when he finally had everyone's attention he asked: "Can someone please tell me what's going on here? And I mean right now! I especially want to know why my Elder powers just passed through a demon, while he could toast me. And don't dare that anyone of you uses anything like 'future consequences', because I swear I'll orb you into a volcano."  
But before anyone could answer another person entered the scene. "I heard some yelling is everything's fine in here?" Bianca asked as she walked through the door.

& & & & &

_Back in our time...  
_When Christopher appeared up there Steve and Odin were already waiting. Together they went down the long hallway up to Odin's private rooms. There they parted and Steve went on to the rooms of his mother. Odin and Christopher, on the other hand, went inside where Silas was already waiting.  
"Hey Silas," Christopher greeted him smiling, and before the Elder knew it he was pulled into a hug.  
Silas felt a little overwhelmed and freed himself. "Hello," he stated simply.  
"Maybe we should sit down," Odin said.  
Christopher nodded and sat down on the sofa while the two Elders sat on the armchairs that completed the sitting area in Odin's rooms. On the table between them lay lots of books and old papers, which the witch-Elder eyed curiously. "So, what do you want to talk to me about?... Did you find anything that helps me to get back?"  
"Well," Odin began to explain, "we found some mentioning of spells that let people switch positions, but only in places not during the time."  
"Unfortunately there was no reverse mentioned unless it happened what was supposed to happen," Silas added.  
"Yeah, but we also found some interesting hints in the literature about time travel," Odin took the word again. "It seems that in a case like this, where time travel wasn't your intention, the spell should not be able to remove you from somewhere without replacement, because that would lead to an instability in time. So we are now sure that Chris is indeed in the future, where he hopefully is safe."  
"I'm sure he is, but that doesn't help me to get back... So have you found anything that helps me... anything at all?" Chris asked getting anxious.  
"Well we found some notes that describe in most parts what's happening to you, through without the time aspect," Silas explained. "In all those cases there was either something special that one or both persons had to do or something they should learn or experience. Take your own family for example. While your mother was pregnant with your brother she and Leo kind of switched the life situations. They had to learn to understand each other, and after they did they switched back."  
"So that means we have to find out what it is you are meant to do, or to learn... and get you to do it... Then you should return to the future..."  
"And have you found it out?" The witch-Elder asked hopeful.  
"Not really, but you asked about Excalibur, so..." Silas said.  
"Not really?" Christopher asked as he jumped up. "God, I need to get home and that soon... I need to get back before tonight, ok? I need to get back where I belong and to get Chris back here before I have to..." He exclaimed while gesturing wildly. Then he sad down again and sighed: "Either I get home until tonight or they will find out..."  
"Christopher, you can't tell them..." Odin tried.  
But the witch-Elder shook his head. "I can't do that to her. And also not to him. Chris will kill me if I do... If I'm still stuck here tonight then I have to tell at least Bianca, since she's already angry with me for acting weird."  
Now Silas and Odin sighed, too. Neither of them had thought about the fact that Chris not only had a mother who would throw a fit if she would find out, but also a wife. And that was something they all agreed on: there was no way that Christopher could hide his identity from Chris' wife.  
"And what if we make up an excuse that he has to work up here tonight?" Silas asked then.

& & & & &

Kyle was standing besides the door to an apartment from where loud noises - voices - could be heard. His body was tensed and he firmly held his gun in his hand. The other man, Officer Henderson, who had called him from his office for assistance, was standing on the other side of the door. They had been called by the neighbors because of a family-fight.  
"POLICE! OPEN THE DOOR!" Officer Henderson yelled, after an eye contact with Kyle had told him hat he was ready. The next moment they heard some breaking glass and a woman's screams.  
"LAST WARNING. OPEN THE DOOR, NOW!"  
Again there was nothing to be heard except more screams and swearing and again broken glass. Henderson nodded to Kyle, then he kicked in the door.  
As soon as the way was free, both officers stormed that apparent. "POLICE! GET DOWN TO THE FLOOR AND PUT YOUR HANDS BEHIND YOUR HEAD!" Kyle screamed when he entered the living room and saw a man with a broken bottle in hand, ready to hit the woman on the floor, probably again. "I SAID GET DOWN!" Kyle screamed again when the man didn't react.  
Again the man didn't move, he just looked at Kyle without really noticing him. From the smell in the apartment he could guess that the man was drunk and probably didn't understand what was going on.  
He was about to yell at him again when Henderson stepped beside him and shot the man with a stun gun. The man immediately went down to the floor. And the woman, who had been sitting there, afraid to be hit again, now crawled over to him and screamed at the two officers how they could hurt her husband. "Go get him, and watch him," Henderson ordered. And Kyle did as he was told and handcuffed the man, while the other officer led the now hysterical screaming woman over into another room.  
Kyle kept staring at the man who was still lying on the floor, recovering from the short pain of the electroshock. He sighed, not understanding how two people could live like this. This man was beating the shit out of his wife but still she defended him in front of the police... How could she love someone like this, and how could someone like him hurt his own wife... He didn't understand it, but he knew one thing for sure. He would never in this world treat Paige like this. NEVER!  
Paige...  
He was really a lucky guy that he had found someone like her... Yeah, he was very lucky. Paige was the best thing that had ever happened to him. Truth to be told, he had been a little bit afraid of this weird family at first, but he had never been afraid of Paige. Shocked, yes, absolutely, but he never was afraid. There had been something between them, right from the start. Something that had told him that he could trust her.  
And today he would be cooking for her... His mom's favorite casserole with tomatoes, onions, shrimp, scallops, zucchini... Wait... Zucchini? Yes that was the one he had forgotten about earlier!  
Quickly he put his gun back at its place on his belt and pulled out the sheet with the ingredients and a pen and added the word 'zucchini' to it, all the while a big smile on his face.  
"Turner? What the hell are you doing?" Officer Henderson's harsh voice pulled Kyle out of his thoughts. He looked at him, suddenly realizing how inappropriate his behavior was and tugged his list back into his pocket.  
The older officer sent him a disapproving look, then he ordered: "Get him up, we take him to the department."  
Kyle nodded quickly, pulled the drunken man up and dragged him out of the apartment while Officer Henderson read him his rights on the way...

& & & & &

The three witches were still sitting in the library, their noses stuck deep into the old books when Tom returned with a cup of coffee and cookies for everyone. It had been more than an hour since he and Veronica had joined the other two. So it was more than time for a little refreshment.  
"Coffee-break, girls!" he greeted them cheerfully as he entered. All three faces looked up and visibly lit up when they saw the food and caffeine.  
"Thanks honey," Veronica said smiling while he sat down next to her. And not a second after he had placed everything on the table, Tom found himself in a loving embrace. Phoebe smiled at them, as they kissed, but Nicki just sighed.  
Of course the empath knew what was bothering the young witch so she took her hand and send her a reassuring smile. They had had a long talk before Tom and Veronica had arrived. Nicki had told her about her worries about Steve, that she was afraid to lose him to his obsession. And Phoebe had told her some stuff about Cole, from the time when he still was half-demon. Through that had been different back then since her husband was raised as demon, not as a witch like Steve. Still the empath had noticed some similarities and she could give the girl some advices, which she hoped would be useful.  
"So have you found anything while I was gone???" Tom asked when Veronica finally let him go again.  
"No," Phoebe pouted and then grabbed herself a cookie.  
"Well... maybe you have been wrong? Maybe you confused his tattoo with another symbol you once saw?" Tom tried.  
Now the empath frowned again, and then said with a stern voice: "Thomas Marsden, I know what I see when I see it. And I KNOW that damn tattoo, I..."  
But the half-phoenix interrupted her by raising his hands and saying: "Hey, it was just a thought, no need to get mad at me..."  
"Are you sure that this book you're looking for is here in the library? I mean, maybe you saw it somewhere else...?" Nicki now asked between sip and sip from her coffee.  
Phoebe now sighed. "Honestly I don't know... I'm just sure that I have seen this symbol before and it gives me a bad feeling... as if it was emitting some kind of evil energy... I know that's weird, but..."  
"No it's not," Veronica said. Then she frowned before her eyes lit up. "Maybe we can write a summoning spell to bring that book to us!?!?!"

& & & & &

It was always nice up in Elder-land. A beautiful, serene atmosphere, perfect for meditating. No one was ever in a hurry, and unless there was a great disturbance in the cosmos, no one was stressed. At least, no Elder was stressed. Some whitelighters were dealing with minor crises surrounding their charges, but nothing to send up a high alert. But Steve could still see the stress on their faces. Especially on those junior-whitelighters who were just starting to get into the swing of things. 'If only they knew what was going on with me and my demonic family, they'd probably pack up for places unknown,' he thought as he came up to his mother's rooms. He waited a moment before knocking, feeling a little strange being here. He just hoped that maybe she could help him, where no one else had. Through Christopher had offered help, what with future consequences and all, he doubted he'd be able to offer much. And something told him Odin and Silas were trying to talk him out of helping him. For the greater good.  
Steve just shook his head, took a deep breath and knocked.  
"Come in," a sweet, loving voice said from the other side of the door. That voice made him smile. He even felt a little better now. So without further hesitation, he opened the door.  
Elenia was sitting in a fluffy white armchair, looking serene and beautiful. She smiled when she saw her son standing in the doorway. He smiled back and entered, closing the door behind him. She rose to greet him, enveloping him in a warm embrace. She pulled back suddenly, taking his face in her hands, knowing something was bothering him.  
"What's wrong, son?" the Elder asked, concerned. Steve couldn't stand the worried look in her eyes, and had to look away. He didn't want her to worry about him. He didn't want anyone to worry about him. Not when he was so worried about Nicki. He moved away from her then, not knowing what to tell his own mother.  
She waited patiently, not wanting to force the subject. Looking at him, watching him fiddle with a book on a shelf, she came to realize it was going to take some leading up to, to get him to talk. So she decided to change the subject.  
"How are things at school? The students aren't too wild, are they?" Elenia asked as she sat back down in her nice fluffy chair. Steve looked up from the book he was looking at, grateful for the change of subject.  
"Most of them are alright. But there are a couple that need a little... discipline," he said, thinking back to a class he had taught two weeks ago. He had barely walked in the door, when one of the students had turned another into a pig. Suffice it to say, that student was now spending all his free time in detention. For the next two months. It gave Steve a little sense of gratification to know that at least one bully was out of circulation. Even if only temporarily.  
"Of course. But I'm sure with you as their teacher, they will learn," his mother said with a proud smile. He smiled shyly in return, feeling embarrassed. "So how are your friends? Tom and Veronica?"  
"They're great. I think Vernoica is preparing a class for Monday," Steve said, thinking back to the conversation he and Tom had had the night before.  
"Veronica is teaching now?" Elenia asked, interest in her son's life showing.  
"No. She's substituting for the teacher in potions. I can't for the like of me remember his name." He thought hard, but the name never came to him. He was usually pretty good at remembering the other teachers' names.  
"Well, that seems like a good place for her. I've heard she's good with potions," she said, as Steve finally settled himself into one of those fluffy chairs his mother seemed so fond of. "And how is Nicki? You two are still doing well?" his mother knew then that she hit on the problem when he took a deep breath and looked down at his hands. A look of concern crossed her face again, and she leaned forward, placing her hand on his knee. "She's alright, isn't she?"  
"Yeah, no, she's fine. She's fine," Steve said, his heart in his throat, just thinking about his fiancée.  
"Well, what's wrong? Did something happen?" Elenia had so much compassion, so much love for her son. Seeing him this torn up was pulling her apart.  
"No. Nothing happened. Not yet, anyway. She's... wonderful. The best thing in my life," he said, feeling sadness, and fear welling up inside him. And anger. Sad that he had pushed her away earlier, and fear that someone might take her from him. And anger that he might not be able to stop it.  
"Son, please. Tell me what's going on? What's wrong?" she pleaded with him, gently lifting his chin, making him look her in the eyes.  
He could tell she only wanted to help. She was his mother. But he didn't know if she could. He closed his eyes for a moment, feeling the pain rushing up, and threatening to spill out. "They're going to hurt her, Mom," he finally managed around the lump forming in his throat.  
"Who's going to hurt her?" Elenia said, fear filling her eyes.  
"Who else? My father's clan," he said, getting up, anger swelling inside of him.  
"Honey..." his mother started.  
"Don't. Don't take his side! They're after her! And they're after me! And if that means they have to hurt her to get to me, then they'll do it!" he said angrily, his voice rising with each word.  
"Sweetie..." she tried again, putting all the compassion she had into her voice.  
"No. They are going to hurt her. I know it. I feel it! I won't let them. I won't!" His eyes flashed then, scaring his mother. Then he stormed out in a rage, leaving her speechless and terrified.

* * *

_(Chapter 6 written by Chrissy.W.x and Kirianna Ledräen)_


	7. Chapter 7

**A Charmed Story - Part Thirteen:  
Freaky Friday  
Chapter 7**

The four witches were sitting around the table in the library, hope rising, as a solution presented itself. If it worked...  
Phoebe had crumpled up a half dozen pieces of paper with half written spells on them, in the last fifteen minutes. Trying to find the right one to bring that book to her was frustrating, to say the least. She had an easier time writing vanquishing spells. And her three companions weren't helping any. After five minutes of them trying to give her suggestions, she told them all to be quiet so she could think. She was the senior spell writer, after all.  
Finally, after about twenty minutes, she held up a sheet of paper, a simple spell scrolled across its surface. She exchanged looks with the others, mentally crossing her fingers, hoping the spell would work.  
"Well, no time like the present," Tom said, feeling nervous in spite of himself. He knew it was just a simple summoning spell, but magic was just so cool, he couldn't help it. Veronica took his hand, and looked into his eyes for a moment before turning her attention back to Phoebe. Nicki sat beside her, silently encouraging her.  
"Let's hope this works," Phoebe said, taking a deep breath before reciting.  
_"Hear these words, hear the rhyme,  
A strange symbol I cannot find.  
A book long lost in time and space,  
With answers shall now be replaced."  
_Just then a swirl of magic lights formed between them on the table.

& & & & &

All work and no play made for a very cranky witch. Paige felt like she's been grading papers forever. All this school work was driving her nuts. And worse, all she could think of was dinner with Kyle tonight at the manor. At least that's all she could think of for the past hour. And that was right after the teacher who had supervised detention had drop more papers off. Her pile of unmarked assignments seemed to have grown to double, and now she had more unmarked than marked ones.  
So it was that her mind drifted off once again to her arrival home tonight, where she would go upstairs, take a quick shower, put on her favorite perfume, do her hair and makeup, and don that new little black dress she had bought last week. And then she would spend a perfect evening with Kyle, eating a meal that he had prepared. In Piper's kitchen. That brought a smile to her face, thinking about Piper's reaction when Kyle showed up to cook for her. She knew Piper would probably be okay with it, as long as he didn't get in her way. She could just picture the look in Piper's eyes as the two reached for the same bowl at the same time.  
Lost in her thoughts, Paige's surroundings were non existent. She didn't feel the hard desk she was leaning against. She didn't hear the student walking past her office to collect a forgotten book. And she didn't see the magical lights forming around the book that was holding up her bookcase. As the book disappeared, the bookcase teetered for a moment, seeming to wonder if there was enough counter weight to hold it up, then it came crashing down, spilling its contents all over the floor... and scaring the hell out of Paige.

& & & & &

It had been about twenty minutes since he'd finished giving Wyatt his bath, and now Leo was settled on his bed, one of his boys on each side of him, a book in his hands. It was story time. Both boys were staring at the bright pictures in the book, completely entrance by the tale. Little Christopher would giggle from time to time, pointing at one picture or another, through Leo wasn't sure how much he really understood already. Wyatt would ask his dad little question about what was going on, like "Daddy, he (the hero) will be alright, won't he?" or "Daddy, the bad man can't win, can he?" And Leo would always answer with "Of course he'll be alright" or "Of course he won't win".  
Leo caught movement in the corner of his eye from outside the room, and looked up momentarily to see Cole passing by. Cole saw him, too. He stopped to watch Leo doing what he loved, spending time with his boys.  
"The young, valiant prince, lifted his sword and pointed it at the tower, calling to the evil wizard. 'As long as I live, you will never rule this land!' he said," Leo read.  
Cole smiled when Leo changed is voice to sound like the prince from his story.  
Cole admired Leo. Watching him with his boys, with Piper... It's what he always wanted in a family. Well, at least since he'd met Phoebe, and his human side had been reawakened. Now he was rid of his old demonic self, sort of. Phoebe was his wife, and her family had become his own, truly, for the first time, embracing him as their own. And that wouldn't have happened without that little brown haired boy who was giggling at the story again. Had Chris never come back from the future, he may never have had this opportunity. Oh, he still remembered what Chris had told him about Phoebe freeing him, but that was now part of a no-longer existent time line. And considering everything he had seen and done, anything could have happened that would have left him trapped there forever. He was truly thankful for everything he had. But he did have to admit, sometimes he was a little jealous. Times like this, he wanted his own children to hold, to tell stories to, to make funny voice that made them laugh.  
"You'll be a dad in no time. Adding to this crazy family of ours," Piper said, coming up behind Cole, startling him. "Sorry," she apologized for scaring him, then looked inside her bedroom, and watched Leo from the doorway.  
"I thought Phoebe was the psychic," Cole quipped, a smile crossing his face.  
"I have it on good authority that you are, too," she said, winking at him. "But I was the middle sister for twenty-five years. So reading peoples expressions has become second nature to me. Had to, with two sisters who were always going at each other. I had to learn what they were thinking so I could play peacemaker."  
Cole grinned, thinking back to the few fights he'd witnessed between Phoebe and Prue. There were a few doozies. Including at least one that was entirely his fault. "Yeah, I remember. Sometimes, that seems like a lifetime ago," he said, melancholically.  
Piper looked up at him, the same regretful look in her eyes. "It does to me, too, sometimes." She looked back into her room and smiled at Leo and her boys, the regret replaced with contentment. "Well, I guess it's just about time to go make dinner," she patted Cole on the arm, then headed for the stairs.

& & & & &

_In the future..._  
"Well? What's going on?" Bianca asked again, looking at everyone in turn. Her eyes fell on Michael, who was still seething.  
The older Chris walked over to her, and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "Hi, honey," he said, lovingly.  
She pushed him away, glaring, not accepting his attempt to mollify her. "Don't honey me. I asked you a question," she said sternly.  
Past Chris winced. 'Definitely the same old Bianca,' he thought, remembering all the times she'd spoken to him in that tone.  
"We were attacked by a phase-shifter," Wyatt answered, indicating himself, Julia, and past Chris. And turning to the latter he quickly explained: "They are kind of out of phase or something, that's why our powers can't harm them." Then he turned back to his sister in law. "And Julia saved us," he added proudly, smiling down at her. Michael's scowl deepened.  
Bianca's eyes went wide with worry, and searched out her time-traveling husband from the past.  
"I'm alright... I, ah, healed myself..." he said gesturing for his older self, trying to make light of the situation.  
But nothing seemed to make a dent in Michael's mood. He was still glaring at Wyatt. Bianca let out a sigh of relief. If past Chris died, her Chris would cease to exist. And most of their children along with him. "Wyatt? Julia?" she asked them next, transferring her concerned to her brother-in-law and his fiancée.  
"We're fine," Wyatt answered sincerely for both of them, his arm still protectively around Julia.  
"No. She's not," Michael spoke up for the first time since Bianca had entered the room. And he sounded furious.  
"Dad!" Julia exclaimed, glaring at her father.  
"She's not alright. She shouldn't even be here," he continued angrily. Bianca knew where that was coming from. Michael didn't like the fact that Julia was dating Wyatt. Not that Michael disliked Wyatt. It's just that demons and warlocks seemed attracted to him, and he didn't want Julia to get hurt. That, and he also wasn't happy about the seven-year age difference.  
"Michael... What are you doing here?" Bianca finally asked. Wyatt and Julia, she could understand. And both Chrises, she knew that answer. But Michael?  
Michael stopped then, surprised by Bianca's question. To him it was a weird thing to ask. Why shouldn't he be here? His daughter was here. His sword was here. His best friend was here. Here, in the Halliwell manor. The Halliwell manor.  
"I, ah... I was home, in my study... when the sword vanished from its display on the desk. I knew something must be wrong. Angela was in the kitchen, so I knew it wasn't her who summoned it. And that left Julia. I knew she was in trouble, so I called Chris. He brought me here," Michael explained, the anger having drained from him.  
A small smile crept unto Bianca's face at Michael's sudden discomfort. Though she hadn't planed it, her question had been just the thing to defuse him. Julia sent her an appreciative smile, thankful that her dad had stopped yelling.  
Just then they heard footsteps on the stairs, followed by a voice. "What's going on? We heard yelling," Prisca said, as she, Rebecca, and Natalie entered the living room. Past Chris had to look hard at the twins, noticing something was different. It took him a minute to realize their hair was back to its normal color. The blue and purple streaks were gone. This was probably why they'd taken so long to come down, because Prisca had to hide them.  
"Daddy!" the twins said almost at the same time Prisca had spoken, when they saw the older Chris, then threw their arms around him. Wyatt caught the younger Chris's eye, sending him a look that said: "Told you they were up to something." The younger Chris smiled at that.  
"It's nothing to worry about, Sweetie. Everything is fine now," Bianca answered Prisca, who was now standing next to past Chris.  
Prisca was old enough to know that everything wasn't fine. She could tell from the look on everyone's faces. Not to mention the mess in the living room. 'First the twins rope me into something, now the house is in a mess. Can't wait to see what happens next...' Prisca thought sardonically as she took everything in.

& & & & &

_Back in our time..._  
All day, the same things! Demons running around the Underworld. Warlocks trying to steal witches powers. Leprechauns doling out luck. Ogres... Doing whatever it was that ogres did. It seemed to be the same things, day in and day out. It was giving Julian a headache. He needed a rest, a vacation. But, of course, he knew he couldn't. With all the stepped up attacks on the Charmed Ones, despite Belthazor's warning against them, he knew he had to keep watch and make sure they were alright. And now with Christopher in the mix, things were going to get harry, he could feel it. Not to mention Steve, who was hell bent on destroying his father's clan.  
Catching sight of a Brute Demon pounding on a now unrecognizable demon, made Julian shake his head and get up. His eyes felt strained from staring at the monitors all afternoon. He'd barely taken his eyes away ever since Christopher had left. Needing a drink, he poured himself a glass of water, then, after dipping his fingers in the glass, sprayed his eyes to refresh them.  
While he was up, Julian thought he might as well stretch his legs a little. Belthazor had left shortly after Christopher, so he was alone in the cave. He took advantage of the situation to do a few stretching exercises. When he was done, about thirty minutes later, he placed himself back in front of the monitors.  
About fifteen minutes more passed, and Belthazor shimmered into the cave, looking livid. He'd been out doing his job as The Source, and now he wanted to rip the heads off half of his lieutenants. But he knew he couldn't vanquish them all. He had to keep up appearances after all. As soon as he noticed Julian sitting in front of the monitors, he walked over to him, ready to rant and rave about his day. Then he saw that Julian was rubbing his forehead with his index and middle fingers, as if he had a headache.  
Of course that's exactly what it felt like to Julian. He was so caught up in what he'd just seen on the monitor, he hadn't noticed Belthazor shimmer in.  
"Julian? What's wrong?" the source asked, worried something important might have happened while he was gone. Julian opened his eyes and sat up straight, then turned to look at the big red and black demon, who was now standing next to him.  
"Another demon just attacked Piper in the kitchen," he said disbelievingly, shaking his head. This was getting ridiculous.  
"Another attack? Why won't they listen to me?" Belthazor roared. Julian scoffed, knowing the answer.  
"They're demons. They kill witches. And the Charmed Ones are the best prize any demon could ask for," he answered matter-of-factly.  
"I know that! I was being rhetorical!" the big demon said, annoyed, glaring at his demon-witch friend. "She got him at least?"  
"Blew him to kingdom come."  
"Good. Through it's too bad they never learn. Even a lone Charmed One is too much for them to handle alone..."  
"Holy shit!" Julian exclaimed, cutting Belthazor off. He was staring at his monitors again, and before Belthazor could ask what was going on now, he saw it. Steve was in Golden Gate Park, in a little grove of trees. There was a man with him, probably no older then himself - a junior whitelighter from the look of him. And scared to death. Steve appeared to Julian and Belthazor as furious. He quickly shooed away the whitelighter, who was perfectly happy to leave. 'Wherever Steve had come from, he must have used the whitelighter for transportation,' Belthazor thought, as he continued to watch Steve pace in the trees.

& & & & &

All day he'd waited for this. And now it was finally time. Laden down with grocery bags, an excited Kyle made his way up the front steps of the manor. Paige had assured him he didn't have to knock or ring the doorbell. But trying to open the door with all those bags was a bit of a trick in itself. And just as he started to contemplate ringing the bell, the door opened for him.  
"Hello?" he said, announcing his presence to anyone nearby. No one answered him. He hoped they were just upstairs or out back, and hadn't left in a hurry and forgot to lock the door. After closing the door with his foot, he made his way to the kitchen, bumping into the foyer table on the way, and almost knocking over a dining room chair.  
He thought he heard noises coming from the kitchen as he got nearer, but with all the shopping bags piled in his arms, he couldn't see a thing in front of him. He stopped short when he heard a loud BANG in front of him.  
"What was that?" he asked whoever was in the kitchen.  
"That depends on who's asking," a suspicious female voice said. Piper's voice.  
Kyle turned to the table and placed his bags on it, revealing his face to Piper.  
"Oh, Kyle! I almost blew you up!"  
"Is this a bad time? Is it safe for me to be here?" he asked, looking at her. She had an apron on, and a mixing spoon in one hand. And from the wonderful smell he could tell she was cooking.  
"It's fine. If you don't mind dodging a fireball or two," she said sardonically.  
His eyes went wide then, not sure he wanted fireballs anywhere near his mom's famous casserole. Piper held back a laugh at his discomfort. "Don't worry, they usually only attack in threes," she said, still holding back a snicker.  
"How many have attacked?" Kyle asked, cautiously.  
"Two." Just then a third demon materialized between them, and Piper blew this one up as well. "Make that three."  
Kyle just stared gape mouthed, as Piper went right back to her cooking as if nothing had happened.  
Piper looked up from stirring to look over at him, still standing by the table, shocked. "What's in the bags?" she asked him, trying to bring him back to normal.  
He just stared at her for a minute, before snapping out of it. "Ah, sorry, it's everything I need to make Paige fall in love with me." Kyle's earlier mood was returning, now that his mind was back on his original task.  
"Paige is already in love with you," Piper reminded him.  
He smiled broadly as he started to unpack the bags. "Ah, but this will make her fall even more in love with me," he said holding up a zucchini.  
"A zucchini? I didn't know a zucchini was an aphrodisiac," Piper quipped, while chopping some carrots.  
"It's not. It's for the most delicious casserole known to man. A recipe my very own mother used to capture my father's heart," he explained, as he lifted the Bordeaux out and placed it on the counter.  
Piper picked up the bottle and examined it, a look of admiration on her face. "Wow, good choice. This is a good vintage. Though I hope you're not going to serve it to Paige, she doesn't drink," she reminded him.  
He made a face at her. "It's not for drinking. It's for cooking," he said in his best snobbish voice. "She wouldn't mind, would she?"  
"No," Piper reassured him. "But... Cooking? I didn't think you were the type," she teased.  
"I'll let you know, I am a wonderful cook. Now, would you be so kind as to tell me where you keep the pots?" Piper had to laugh at Kyle's haughty demeanor. It was no wonder Paige loved him, he had the same crazy sense of humor as she did. Still laughing, Piper pointed him in the right direction.  
Soon the kitchen was abuzz with activity. Both Piper and Kyle were cooking their respective dinners at the same time. And it was one of those days when Piper was glad they had two stoves. A thought occurred to Piper then.  
"You know, Paige called before you got here. She said she'd be later then expected. Something about a bookcase falling over. And I'm sure you don't want your dinner getting cold," she informed him.  
"Piper Halliwell, are you trying to kick me out of your kitchen?" Kyle asked, mock-scandalized.  
"Well now that you mention it. Yes!" she replied, half serious.  
He smiled at that, knowing she wasn't going to actually kick him out of the kitchen. At least he hoped. "I'm sure it will be fine. As long as no more demons come crashing in here," he said more seriously.  
"I can make no promises."  
He kind of hoped she was joking this time, but considering the two demons who'd been in here since he'd arrived, he knew better.  
"Well, at least I can give you a little suggestion," she offered.  
"Sure. What is it?" Kyle asked, curious.  
"Well, it's close to sunset. And I heard Phoebe going on this morning about it being a full moon tonight. I thought, since this is an over crowded house, and everyone will probably be home tonight, why don't you eat out in the garden? The full moon and some candles should be all you need for romantic lighting. We could light the outdoor fireplace for heat. And no one will bother you there."  
Kyle looked at Piper with new found admiration. Even though they had been butting heads for the past minutes, it was obvious she wanted her little sister to be happy. And that was a wonderful idea.

& & & & &

The plan was very simple... Christopher would attend the family dinner as he used to, then the Elders would jingle him. He would excuse himself with an "I don't know what's going on but don't wait for me," and then he'd orb up there... he could sleep on Odin's sofa, his godfather had offered.  
Christopher had to smile at all this. He had never thought that the pacifistic Elders would be so good at this... in his time, yes, there they were really good in making secret plans and hiding stuff... They had learned it because of Chris and their close contacts to the Halliwells... Christopher for example remembered that one surprise party they had prepared... But in this time, where all this was still fresh and new? No, he had never thought that Odin would be so shifty.  
"Ok... that really sounds like a good plan," he finally said, "but what if Leo wants to come with me...?"  
"Then I'll make sure he's occupied when he arrives. I wanted to discuss this subject of the Elder-library anyway..." Odin suggested.  
Now Christopher looked at him frowning: "The Elders have their own library???"  
Silas grinned at that while Odin raised an eyebrow, saying: "So it seems my plan to combine both Elder- and magic school-library with each other will be a success..."  
Christopher blushed at his, again he had spoiled something. But how should he have known? In his time there was only one library which both students and Elders used. In fact it was an often used meeting point, where students and Elders liked to chat and exchange opinions...  
Silas then cleared his throat and said: "I guess this plan should work... But if not, Christopher might be right... I don't think we can lie to them any longer. It wouldn't be right." And as the young man winced he added, looking at Odin: "And you, as his godfather, should support him then and calm their nerves... we have already enough trouble, we don't need a Halliwell Clan that is fighting against each other..."  
Odin sighed at this and nodded. He just wanted to make another comment as they heard a knock on the door.  
Christopher looked up worried but Silas gestured him to just stay silent, while Odin went to open the door.  
He had the intention to send away who ever was out there, but as soon as he had opened the door, Elenia stormed in, her face pale and her breath going fast.  
Christopher immediately rose from his seat, asking "What happened?"  
The woman looked at him, then at Silas, before she spoke. "It's about Steve," she said, "he just visited me... we talked and then he got angry. He ran off, forcing one of the young whitelighter to orb him God-knows-where. I tried to sense for him, but he's blocking me as it seems." By now she was close to tears: "I'm afraid. I don't know what's happening to him. He was so angry and... and his eyes... they..."  
"They?" Odin asked.  
But before Elenia could answer Christopher asked: "They glowed yellow, right?"  
The female Elder looked at him in shock, same as the other two Elders in the room. "How do you know?" she asked.  
Christopher again realized that he probably opened his mouth too wide again, then quickly saved the situation by saying: "I saw it, too, a little earlier today when we were on the bridge."

& & & & &

Bianca was in the sunroom of the manor. She sat on the floor on a blanket, playing with her daughter and a teddy bear.  
"Hello Hope... I'm Teddy... Do you wanna play with me," she said with a deep teddy-voice, making her daughter giggle and clapping her small hands together.  
"Bianca? Are you in there?" she suddenly heard Piper's voice from the kitchen.  
"Yeah I'm here," she replied, right before her mother in law entered the room. She stopped in the door way looking at the picture in front of her with a smile on her face. It was such a cute scene. Then she turned to Bianca and asked: "If you can let go of her for a moment, could you maybe set the table? Dinner should be ready in 15 minutes."  
"Yeah of course," she said and rose. She picked up her daughter and gave her a kiss, before placing her and her teddy into the playpen. "I'll be right back," she said to her, then she turned to Piper who was already leaving for the kitchen again. "Is Paige back by now?"  
"No," the Charmed One called back, "but she won't eat with us anyway... So only you, me, our men and Cole... and Phoebe in case she shows up. I tried to phone her earlier, but she turned it off as it seems."  
"Alright... so just six plates." With those words the Phoenix went to the set the table.  
She was halfway done when her mother in law came in and brought some bread and juice. "Chris will come for dinner right?" Piper asked.  
Bianca shrugged: "He better should... at least you have planed another training lesson tonight, haven't you?"  
At this reminder Piper's face lit up. "Yeah," she said, "I almost forgot." Then she left to the kitchen again. On her way, she thought that this would be the perfect opportunity to find out what's going on with her son. Tonight, when training his new freezing power with him. Her son had made good progress in controlling that power, but he was still not perfect in it. So they trained once a week. And this was the perfect moment to get the truth out of him. And if she would get Cole's help - which she was sure of - this would be an even easier task.

* * *

_(Chapter 7 written by Kirianna Ledräen and Chrissy.W.x)_


	8. Chapter 8

**A Charmed Story - Part Thirteen:  
Freaky Friday  
Chapter 8**

Steve had walked around the park for a good half hour. He had been so angry. Why didn't his mom understand? Why did no one understand him? And suddenly he felt alone. And that terrified him even more.  
But as he walked through the park on fast speed he also thought about Nicki again. He was still sad about his stupid behavior earlier. He knew he had to make up for that, she deserved better than this. She was the most important person in his life and he had just pushed her away. He had to do something for her, surprise her and show her how much he loved her, no matter what. And while he thought about what to do he calmed down more and more until he finally stopped his pacing in front of a bench.  
He sat down there and sighed deeply. And looking up at the bright moon an idea hit him. Yes that was the perfect idea... a picnic in the moonlight. Right here in the park. He was sure he could get some nice stuff to eat and maybe a good wine... and of course a warm blanket since it was really chilly out there, now that the sun was gone. He himself realized just that moment that he was slightly freezing himself. But in the worst case he could use a spell to warm the area round them.  
And the most important thing he couldn't forget: crystals, lots of charmed crystals. Just to protect them in case the Ashon should find them. He wouldn't let them ruin this night, in no way...  
With a smile on his face he pulled out his mobile phone and dialed.

& & & & &

Phoebe, Nicki, Veronica and Tom were all sat closely side by side, going trough the book together. They were though it half way by now, but hadn't found anything that matched the little sketch the empath had made during her interview.  
That was when Nicki's mobile phone rang. She excused herself and then went a little aside to not disturb the others.  
"Yeah?" she answered the call.  
_"Nicki it's me..."_  
"Steve?"  
_"Yeah,"_ she heard from the other end of the phone. _"I'm sorry for what happened earlier. Please, you have to believe me..."_  
"I do, Steve, and I know you didn't mean it," Nicki answered. "I'm just worried about you... Where are you?"  
_"I'm fine... Actually I'm preparing a little surprise for you."  
_"A surprise?"  
_"Yeah I want to make up for all the things I did the last days. I wasn't fair to you. Actually I was a complete idiot so I will make up for that,"_ he explained.  
"Oh Steve," she said, "you really don't need..."  
_"But I want to..."_ he interrupted her. _"So can you come to the Golden Gate Park in one and a half hour?"  
_Nicki sighed: "Of course I will come..." And after a short break she added: "I love you."  
_"I love you, too," _Steve answered with a sigh, _"more than you can imagine."_ Then he hung up the phone without any other word.  
Nicki shut off the phone and stared at it for a moment, thinking about him. Yeah, she meant what she said, she really loved him, and that was the reason why she worried so much about him. Something was still wrong with him. Through he sounded as happy as he wasn't in a long time, she still could hear in his voice that something was bothering him. But maybe she would have a chance to find out what that was, later this night. So with a sigh she put the phone away and went back to her friends.  
"Who was that?" Veronica asked when Nicki sat down by her side again.  
"Steve," she said simply. And then looking at Tom she added: "He asked me to meet him later in the Golden Gate Park. Do you think you can shimmer me there?"  
"Sure!" the half-Phoenix replied.  
"Is that a date?" Phoebe asked smiling, picking up on her emotions.  
Nicki blushed at this but said: "I hope... He said he has a surprise for me."  
Now the empath smiled even more: "See... I told you everything will turn out good..."  
"And you?" the witch asked then. "Have you found anything yet."  
"No," Veronica said, as she turned another page of the book but then stopped. "Wait? Look at this." And with those words she pointed at a symbol that looked almost exactly like the sketch made by Phoebe.

& & & & &

Kyle was lightly frying the shrimp, scallops, onions, and garlic in the Bordeaux, making sure they didn't stick, or worst, burn. Cooking for him, was a way to release stress after a long day at work. And cooking for Paige, well, that made it all the more special.  
He watched Piper as she returned from bringing the bread and juice to the dining room. He could tell she was stressed about something, it had shown all evening while they had been cooking, even if they also joked a lot. And the worry in her voice a moment ago, when he overheard her talking to Bianca, had pinpointed the reason: Chris. Kyle didn't want to pry, he was still relatively new here, but the more time he spent with Paige and her family, the more they all felt like his family. And he wanted to help in any way he could.  
"I didn't mean to overhear, and I'm sorry if I'm overstepping my bounds, but is something wrong with Chris?" he finally asked, as he removed the frying pan from the heat.  
"Overhear? I don't remember saying anything was wrong with Chris," Piper said, looking at him strangely, feeling like he was psychic-ly intruding.  
"It's not what you said. It's how you said it. You sounded stressed when you mentioned Chris to Bianca. And she sounded upset," he explained.  
"Is everyone in this house turning into psychics now?" she asked, checking on her dinner one last time.  
Kyle laughed. "No. I'm not psychic. It's just part of the job. To be able to read people."  
"I told Cole the same thing earlier. Because I was the middle sister for years," she said, remembering that quiet talk outside her bedroom. A much calmer talk then the one she'd had with him in the living room before that.  
"Maybe you should have become a cop," Kyle teased, getting her to lower her guard.  
She laughed a little at the thought. She couldn't really picture herself chasing down criminals, gun in hand. Then again, who'd have ever thought she'd be chasing down demons with explosive hand gestures? She shook her head at the crazy thought.  
"So, what's wrong with Chris? Maybe I can help," he asked again, sympathetically, hoping she wouldn't shut him out this time.  
She looked at him and took a deep breath. "I don't know what's wrong with him. He's just been acting weird all day. I've noticed it. Bianca noticed it. Hell, even Cole noticed it. We've all talked about it at different times during the day, but we can't seem to figure out what's going on. Cole and I talked for twenty minutes straight trying to figure it out. If Leo hadn't called me to bring him Christopher for story-time, I'm sure we would have talked for hours," she said, feeling frustrated. Then she added as an afterthought: "Well, at least until you showed up."  
"How is he acting weird?" he asked, seeing how truly worried Piper was. He knew he also sounded a little bit like the cop he was. And Piper's look confirmed it.  
"I don't know. He wasn't himself. He was withdrawn, elusive. Like something was bothering him, but he didn't want to worry anyone." Piper stood there a minute, thinking about Chris's behavior. She'd never seen him act like this. So distant, so secretive, so... Actually, now that she thought about it, she had seen him act like this, when he'd first come here from the future.  
"What is it?" Kyle asked, reading the epiphany on Piper's face. "What are you thinking?"  
"Thinking about what?" Bianca asked, as she walked into the kitchen, having finished setting the table. She blinked when she saw Kyle, having not known he was here. "Oh, hi Kyle."  
"Bianca," he said, nodding in greeting.  
"Chris. I just realized what he's acting like," Piper said, turning so she could face both Kyle and Bianca at the same time. "He's acting like he used to. Before we knew who he was."  
"Well, that doesn't help us figure out why he's acting like this now," Bianca said, looking at Piper, worried. Something just wasn't right with Chris, but for the life of her, she just couldn't figure out what.  
"I know, I..." Piper started, but was cut off by the timer. Dinner was ready. "Why don't you go call Chris? I'll get Leo and Cole."  
Bianca nodded, then went back into the living room to call for Chris.  
"I'll just go get that fireplace going, so Paige and I don't freeze later," Kyle said, before Piper could leave the room.  
She turned back, remembering something. "Hold on. I'll get Leo to help you. He knows where we keep the wood," she told him. Than she looked up at the ceiling and called. "LEO!"  
He orbed in moments later, baby Christopher in his arms. "What is it?" Leo asked, as Piper took her youngest from him.  
"Dinner's ready. Where's Wyatt?"  
"He's with Cole. They're coming down now," he informed her.  
"Okay. Can you go help Kyle with the fireplace? He wants to have a little heat out there for his dinner with Paige later," she asked her husband.  
"Sure. Of course. Come on Kyle, let's get that thing heated up," Leo said, than headed outside with the man. Piper meanwhile brought baby Christopher to the playpen to play with his ... daughter...? No, niece! 'I really worry too much...,' Piper thought, shaking her head. Usually she could wrap her head around this, but today, with everything that was going on with Chris, it was getting a little too freaky.

& & & & &

"There. That should be enough," Leo said, as he stacked some wood next to the fireplace, while Kyle was lighting a fire inside it.  
"Thanks. I really appreciate this," Kyle said, straightening up.  
"Well, Paige is a great girl. I like to see her happy. I like to see them all happy. And you make Paige happy," the Elder said, patting Kyle on the shoulder.  
"She makes me happy, too" he admitted. A little breeze caught him then, and he shivered. He looked up at the sky, the stars barely visible because of the city lights, but the moon, though still rather low in the sky, was shining in all its full glory. "Hey, Leo?" he asked, just before Leo made it to the door.  
"Yeah?" he said as he turned around to look at Kyle, still staring up at the sky.  
"Isn't the full moon supposed to be some kind of bad luck or something? You know, like bad things tend to happen on the full moon," he asked, rather contemplative, taking in the silver sphere.  
"Only if you're a Wendigo," he heard Piper say. He quickly looked down to see her coming his way with a tray of candles, which she placed on the patio table. Behind her, Leo raised a hand to his face, shaking his head at the memory, and stifling a laugh. Piper herself had a bizarre look on her face, and Kyle realized he was on the outside of an inside joke. "You better check on your casserole," she told him as she passed by. Then taking Leo by the arm, she added: "And we should get inside before our dinner gets cold."  
Kyle waited until he could no longer see Piper and Leo before going inside himself, all the while wondering what a 'Wendigo' was...

& & & & &

_Meanwhile in the future..._  
"Ok..." the older Chris then said separating from his girls and looking around with a sigh. "Let's get some order in this chaos." Then he turned to Prisca with a smile: "First, lift the glamour spell, please..."  
"What glamour spell?" the young witch-Elder asked innocently, while the twins paled visibly looking at the younger Chris.  
But the older Chris addressed his daughters before anyone else could say something: "Or did you think I wouldn't know what you tell to my younger version?" Now the twins blushed.  
Prisca meanwhile shrugged and muttered: "What a waste of time and power." And the next second the colorful streaks in the girls' hair were visible for everyone again.  
Bianca stepped behind the two girls, grabbing them by the shoulders and said: "Not that bad actually... I think we'll let you get away with it... THIS time..."  
The younger Chris watched amused as the twins became smaller and smaller, but also showed signs of being relieved that Bianca wasn't going to rip them in pieces. He really would have a lot of fun with those two... And somehow he wondered if he maybe should warn his Bianca about that tattoo... But then again he might spoil all the fun with that. Then he noticed that his older version was looking at him with a huge smile on his face, who probably knew exactly what he was thinking about. He couldn't help it and smiled back at him.  
"Alright," Michael's words pulled both Chrises out of their silent conversation, "can anyone of you bring me and Julia back home?"  
"But I don't want to go home, Dad!" the young woman complained.  
"I won't argue with you, young lady!" Michael replied.  
"But Michael," Wyatt tried, "why can't you see that we love each other, why can't you just allow us some happiness?"  
"Ok... That's enough... both of you!" the older Chris interrupted them. "I really don't want this evening to end in a fight, not today!" he said looking again at his younger version. Then he said to him: "Can you orb them home, please?"  
The younger Chris nodded and went over to take Michael's hand, then he looked at Julia. The girl rolled her yes and then reluctantly took his other hand. Chris than turned first to his older version and then to Wyatt saying: "When I'm back I want a more detailed explanation." Then turning to Michael he said: "The same house since 23 years ago?" And when the man nodded the three orbed away.  
Bianca then turned to her daughters and Prisca: "You three now go up and take care of your homework until dinner is ready..." All three nodded and after one last look to a not really happy looking Wyatt, they hurriedly left the room.  
"Why?" the twice blessed asked his older brother. "Why the hell are you always telling me that you support me and Julia and as soon as Michael is there you side with him????"  
"Wyatt..." Bianca started.  
But Chris stopped her with a move of his hand. He went over to sit down on the sofa. He patted the space besides him but Wyatt didn't want to sit. So he tried to explain: "I can't really tell you why I do it, but believe me, there is a reason for all of this. From the day you had been in the past and told me about her, I knew you would fall for each other. And I do also know that this will work out itself in no time. And I do not side with Michael, not on this topic at least. I just try to keep the conflicts at bay to not make things worse."  
Wyatt just sneered at that: "Oh that's really nice of you..." Then he orbed away.  
Chris followed the orb lights with his eyes, letting out a sigh. Then he rubbed his hands over his face, suddenly looking completely exhausted.  
Bianca slowly went over to him, sat down by his side and put her arms around him. Chris in turn pulled her close into his arms, inhaling her scent. Then she asked: "Maybe you should just tell him?"  
But Chris shook his head: "No I can't... Finding out about something like this... that's very special. It was for me, too. I can't take that away from him by spilling the surprise... And I know he'll understand when the time comes..."  
"Which will be soon... right?"  
Now Chris grinned saying: "Oh yeah..."

& & & & &

Chris orbed with Michael and Julia to their home. As soon as they had taken solid form again completely, the girl disappeared up the stairs, followed by the sound of a door slammed shut.  
Chris sighed then he looked at his aged friend: "What happened?"  
"What do you mean?" Michael asked confused.  
"Between us I mean... There must be a reason that you are so much against this relationship."  
The man sighed at this and went over to the living room to sit down. Chris followed him but kept standing, feeling a little uneasy. "It's nothing that happened, Chris. I like Wyatt, really I do... And you are and ever will be my best friend. But... First of all Wyatt is seven years older than her, Chris... Seven years! And he's the twice blessed. He'll always live a dangerous life. And it is one thing to be a friend of a witch and see him now and then, than to share your whole life with a witch, 24 hours a day..." The man sighed again before asking: "Is that so hard to understand?"  
Chris shook his head, finally deciding to sit down. "No, it isn't," he said.  
"See... You understand that same as your older version."  
This statement made Chris smile, but still: "Still there is a but..."  
"What but?"  
"BUT... I doubt your worries will stop them."  
Michael now sighed again: "I know... still I can try, can't I."  
Chris nodded: "Yeah you can, but make sure you don't try too hard or you might lose her anyway." His friend looked at him, then he nodded. "Plus," Chris went on, "that thing with the age difference seems to run in the family. Look at me, Bianca is 5 years older than me... And Dad... Well Dad was born in 1924... so technically he's so much older than my mom that I don't even want to think about that." At this Michael finally had to laugh and Chris joined him, happy that he could lighten his friend's mood.  
"Oh Christopher, I didn't know you would visit," Angela's voice was suddenly heard as she walked into the living room.  
Michael giggled as he went over to the older looking Angela, to hug her and give her a kiss. Then he explained: "Honey, you won't believe it, but that's Chris, from the past... Christopher messed up a spell..."  
"Oh," Angela said looking at Chris confused. Then she smiled and gave him a hug, saying: "I don't know how that's possible, but I'm glad to see you... Through you make me look even older than I am..."  
"Oh no," Chris said, "actually you look great!"  
The woman blushed at this and muttered a thank you. Then she asked Chris if he wanted to stay for dinner. But Chris couldn't, even if he'd liked to stay. "I promised Piper to help her with dinner tonight," he explained, "since see wants the whole family to be there, because of me, I guess..."  
"Oh my God," Angela chuckled, and Michael joined her, "the poor woman... That will be a hell lot of work."  
Chris nodded: "Yeah it seems the Halliwell clan has grown quite a lot..."  
Then they all hugged again to say goodbye. "Send your daughter some greetings from me," Chris finally said and then orbed back to the manor.

& & & & &

_Back in our time..._  
Christopher looked at the three Elders in turn. He was sure, Odin didn't believe him, through he had said the truth. But different than Elenia, he knew that he was from the future, so he surely suspected that Chris new more about those yellow glowing eyes, then he admitted.  
Elenia meanwhile had begun to pace nervously. She was more than worried about her son's behavior. Those mood swings he had lately, worried her. And his obsession with his father's clan. Sure they had attacked. But the more time passed without them showing up, the more it seemed that it was just a coincidence, that it had nothing to do at all, with the fact that one of them was Steve's father. Maybe the Ashon didn't even know that Steve existed at all... Well, apart from the fact that her son was trying to haunt them down, almost like animals. Something was wrong with him, but she didn't know what to do...  
"Ok... I guess we..." Odin began to speak again but stopped when he saw Christopher wince. "What?"  
"Bianca is calling... I have to go to attend the family dinner..." the young witch-Elder said paling slightly.  
Odin nodded: "Ok... then go, but stick to the plan. Silas, Elenia and me will go to ask the Oracle about Steve. And later we can discuss this again."  
Christopher reluctantly agreed, and then remarked: "But don't forget to jingle me later."  
"We won't," Silas assured him. The young man nodded and orbed back home...

& & & & &

Nicki was pacing around the library, feeling impatient. She wanted to go and see Steve right now. She didn't want to wait. She looked at her watch again. 'Still an hour and four minutes left,' she thought, feeling that even the two minutes since she had last checked her watch had taken forever. Phoebe, Tom and Veronica were all still reading the description in the book Veronica had just found. But Nicki was too excited, she couldn't sit still. The thought that Steve had a surprise for her, made her giddy. And that was all she could think about, being with him.  
Phoebe looked over at Nicki, feeling the young woman's excitement. It was distracting her. 'And I thought I had this power under control,' she thought, sardonically. She watched Nicki pace a few more times before finally saying something.  
"Nicki, honey, how about you go and get ready for your date? Getting ready will help the time go by faster," Phoebe said, sympathetically, knowing how the girl was feeling, and wishing she had a date with Cole to get ready for.  
"Are you sure? I mean, don't you still need help?" Nicki asked, joy bubbling up inside her, making her feel a little ashamed for bailing on Phoebe.  
"It's fine. I can take it from here. Please, go. All of you," she said, shooing all three of them away and hoping for a little quiet to finish her research.  
"Well, if you really don't need us..." Nicki began.  
"You heard the Lady, let's go!" Tom said, taking Nicki's arm in his, while Veronica took his other one, a big smile on his face. He led the girls out of the library, and down the hall toward Nicki's room. "Well, so much for preparing class," he said.  
"Like you really wanted to anyway," Veronica said, teasing. "At least it doesn't have to be done until Tuesday."  
"Good thing. 'Cause I have a feeling we'll keep getting sidetracked with all this Charmed stuff," Tom said, mock-seriously.  
Veronica slapped him in the arm. "Don't joke about that! You never know, it might happen," she said, annoyed, more than anything.  
"It has before."  
Veronica just looked at him then, halting them.  
Nicki got jolted in the process, since she hadn't been paying attention. "Huh? What?" she said, confused.  
Tom and Veronica couldn't help but chuckle. Veronica reached over and took Nicki's hand. "It's okay, Sweetie. Don't worry about it. So, do you have any idea what you are going to wear tonight?" she asked.  
Tom made a face at the mention of clothes. "And that's my cue to leave." he said, pulling away from the girls.  
"But you have to shimmer me to the park later!" Nicki half pleaded, half whined.  
"I will. I'll be in one of the classrooms working. I'll be back on time, promise," he said, then he leaned in and kissed Veronica on the forehead. "See you later Sweetheart."  
The girls watched him go for a minute before getting back to business. "So, how about that new wool poncho you just bought? It's supposed to get cool tonight," Veronica suggested as they rounded a corner. Nicki smiled, she'd bought that poncho only last week, and Steve had never seen it. Somehow, she knew tonight was going to be a night she would never forget...

* * *

_(Chapter 8 written by Kirianna Ledräen and Chrissy.W.x)_

_**

* * *

**_

Note: Because Chrissy.W.x will be on vacation the next chapter will be uploaded in three weeks instead of two, means May 8th. Thanks for your patience.


	9. Chapter 9

**A Charmed Story - Part Thirteen:  
Freaky Friday  
Chapter 9**

Apparently that bookcase falling over had been a godsend to Paige. It had been just the thing to snap her out of her reveries, lighting a fire under her. She looked at her ever decreasing pile of papers, and realized she only had about a dozen left. That made her smile. She was finally coming to the end. Putting her pen down, she picked up her phone and made a quick call.  
_"Kyle Turner,"_ came the voice from the other end of the line.  
"Hi Sweetie," Paige said, smiling even wider at the sound of his sweet voice.  
_"Don't tell me, you have so much work, that you don't think you'll be home at all tonight?"_ Kyle joked, a small part of him hoping his joke was wrong.  
Paige laughed. "Actually, I should be home in about half an hour. I'm almost done," she reassured him.  
There was an audible sigh from his end. _"Well, that's a relief! I thought for a second there, I'd have to give our food to that hungry pack of wolves in the dining room."_ Kyle had lowered his voice, obviously so those 'wolves' wouldn't hear him.  
"Oh, is Chris starving again? He's always hungry, it seems," she said, laughing.  
_"Actually, Chris isn't here yet. Bianca's been calling him for five minutes,"_ he explained. Paige thought that was strange. Usually when Bianca called, Chris was there in seconds. She hoped nothing bad had happened to him. _"Oh, forget that, he just orbed in."  
_"Well that's a relief. For a moment I thought something might have happened to him," she said, sighing. Not sure she wanted another romantic evening ruined by the whole Charmed thing.  
_"I don't want to worry you, but Piper and Bianca think Chris is acting strange. But I'm sure they have it under control. So when you get home, it's just you and me, and a nice, romantic dinner in the moonlight,"_ he said, trying to entice her. It worked.  
"Wow! I can't wait! But I have to finish up here first. So I'll see you soon then, Sweetie?" Paige said, the large smile back on her face.  
_"See you soon, honey,"_ Kyle said, then hung up.  
Paige put her phone away, then picked up her pen. Her first thought went to Chris. She hoped whatever was going on with him, that Piper and Bianca would surely have a handle on it. Her eyes then drifted to the bookcase. It was back in its place, the books all picked up, courtesy of her favorite spell. Without wasting a single second more, Paige turned her focus back to her papers.

& & & & &

"Hey honey," Christopher immediately greeted Bianca, walking over to her to give her a hug. He had decided while orbing to the dining room that it might be the best to take the initiative to do so before she could try to kiss him.  
Bianca through felt weird about his actions. First they had been fighting earlier and now he was acting like nothing had happened. She frowned therefore when he pulled back and looked at her.  
Christopher sighed when he saw the look on her face. So he took her hands, looked at her and said: "I'm sorry for what happened earlier. I really didn't mean to... you know?"  
The Phoenix still had a feeling of wrongness when she looked at her husband, but somehow she could see in his eyes that he really meant his words. So she let it go, for that moment at least. She didn't want them to fight during dinner.  
Christopher then turned away from her, still afraid that she would jump him any minute, and looked out for his nice. "Where is my little cutie?" he said as he approached the playpen. He knelt down by its side and caressed Hopes cheek. "How was your day? Missed me?" he asked smiling. The little girl giggled. But Christopher suddenly turned serious and whispered to the little girl: "I'm sorry that I had no time to play with you today... but I promise we'll play more as soon as daddy has time, ok?" Again the little girl giggled making Christopher smile again. Then he turned to... himself? Oh that was weird. He ruffled through the hair of his own mini-version and said: "Hey champ, did you have a nice day, too?"  
Bianca and also Piper, who just entered from the kitchen that moment with a bowl full of noodles, observed him, frowning a little. There was definitely something off with him. But both women weren't able to put a finger on it. It was just something that didn't fit to the picture but neither of them could say what it was.  
Cole and Leo meanwhile sat already at the table, both entertaining Wyatt who sat in between the two adults.  
"You are late, where have you been? Dinner almost got cold," Piper asked then, making the other two men look up. Especially Cole eyed his nephew with a look full of suspicion, but he couldn't see any strange things in Chris' behavior when he slightly winced at Piper's words.  
"Well," Christopher began to apologize hesitatingly. "I was up there. We had something to discuss about Steve. His mom is a little worried about him."  
"Oh..." was all, the Charmed One said to this. But then changed her mind and added: "Well I'd be worried, too, if you would get so hell bound on something."  
"Poor Nicki," Bianca muttered with a side look to Chris(topher) who didn't notice it.  
Christopher then sat down besides Bianca. And after looking around he asked: "Where is the rest?"  
"Phoebe is probably still searching for that symbol... you know the tattoo she saw on that new senator..." Cole explained. "I tried to call her, but she must have switched her cell phone off."  
"And Paige is still at the school," Piper then said, "but she has her own dinner today, anyway. Kyle is in the kitchen preparing something for later."  
Christopher just nodded at this, wondering if he had already moved into the manor or not. He had to be careful when he talked to him or Paige.  
The dinner went on in silence. Of course everyone remarked that the meal was delicious as always and of course Wyatt had to start eating his noodles with his hands instead with the fork. But else everyone was silent, busy with their own thoughts.  
"Oh, Chris I forgot..." Piper then remembered, "the restaurant called earlier. They said they had some problems with a supply. They received only second best quality. Could you maybe call the supplier tomorrow?"  
Christopher looked at her then nodded: "Sure." Luckily he had already sometimes helped out in the restaurant and knew what he had to do. Through he would have to find out if they already got the stuff from the same company as they would in his time. But he was sure, knowing how Chris organized things, that he would find that one out easily.  
Cole then looked at little uneasy at Piper who nodded slightly. The two witches had talked before Chris arrived. They had some questions and remarks prepared to prove that something was off with Chris but so far there was nothing unusual, except maybe his silence. Not that Chris was the entertainer at the table, but he usually wasn't THAT calm.  
But now it was Cole's turn: "Will you train later, because I'd like to assist again. It was fun to throw Piper's good china through the room, you know...?"  
Christopher looked at his uncle as if he had grown a second had. 'What the hell is he talking about?' he thought. "Well..." he stumbled, "I don't know... I... actually I..."  
"Oh come on," Piper said, "I love to train with you, and this might be my only chance to teach you something since you already know more about magic then I do... And you know if you can't freeze the plates then I'll do it before they hit the wall..."  
"Ok... if you insist," he replied. And slowly, oh so slowly the pieces of the puzzle clicked into place. Chris had to be new to his freezing power in this time... And he trained this power together with their mom, of course... Just... HE, Christopher, hadn't inherited that power, at least not yet. 'Oh God...' he thought, 'if I have to train with her later than I'm screwed.' And he looked up at the ceiling praying that Odin or Silas would jingle him on time...

& & & & &

When Odin slowly opened the door, the room that lay behind was dark. Frowning he stepped inside, followed by Silas and a little hesitating Elenia. "Why is it so dark?" she whispered through she wasn't really sure why.  
Odin shrugged and then called: "Oracle???"  
A moment later a blinding light filled the room, the round sphere in the middle of the room seemed to grow in its brightness and then the Oracle's high voice was heard, through it sounded a little sleepy: "Uuaaah... Who dares to wake me?"  
Elenia looked slightly worried while Silas, who had a little more experience with that shining ball then her, grinned. But Odin had just raised an eyebrow and now answered: "It was me and I'm here because I need your advice... well actually we need it."  
"Me?" The Oracle asked, and a chuckling sound was heard. "Who is me?"  
The Elder sighed heavily then said: "Odin, my name is Odin..."  
"Ahhhhh..." the Oracle said and it was as if its light was pulsing for a moment, almost as if it was happy to see the other Elder. Then the voice said: "So, Odin, how can I be of service?"  
"Well, me and my friends Silas and Elenia have a question concerning Elenia's son."  
"Ahhh... Steve, such a fine young man," the Oracle interrupted him.  
"Yeah, well... what we wanted to ask..." Silas tried.  
But the Oracle interrupted him: "I suggest you wait until it's your time to speak young Elder, Odin here came first..."  
Elenia had a hard time to not roll her eyes at this. She had been a couple of times in this room, and every time she couldn't help thinking that the Oracle was acting like a small kid, through on the other hand it also scared her a little.  
Odin just looked at Silas who shrugged, then turned to the Oracle and said: "We are worried about him. He's obsessed, he's hell bound on destroying the Ashon. And Elenia and Chris saw his eyes flash yellow for a moment. We have the hope that maybe you can enlighten us on what's going on with him. If you know something, please tell us so that we can help him."  
"Oh yeah Elenia saw his eyes, but Chris didn't..."  
"No... Chris said he..." Elenia said frowning.  
"No he didn't..."  
"Well... can you tell us something about Steve?" Silas asked with a look to Odin, before the Oracle could spoil Christopher's secret. Because of course the Oracle knew that Christopher was there at that time and not Chris.  
"Hmmm... it's difficult to tell what's going on with that boy."  
"Yeah, we know that," Odin said getting impatient.  
"His future is not clear... it's hard to tell where fate will lead him," the Oracle went on. Then without warning the shining sphere started to vibrate, to shake...  
"What does that mean?" Elenia asked since he had never seen such a reaction before.  
"Nothing good," Silas said as he and Odin looked around, worried that someone else might notice this.  
"The last time we got such a reaction was when we asked the Oracle about Rhashirk," Silas then explained while Elenia's eyes grew wide with worry.  
But Odin rose to speak and added: "No, the last time it reacted like this was when we asked it about Chris!"  
Silas then nodded. "Right, I forgot about that..."  
"So what does it mean?" Elenia asked still worried, through not as much as she had been before when Silas had mentioned the name of the fallen Elder who had turned into a demon and had tried to kill them all...  
"I guess it just means," Odin explained while the Oracle calmed down, "that the Oracle doesn't know what's going on itself..."  
"Oh I know what is going on," the voice of the Oracle said, "I just can't voice it, through I want to... it's just not possible to tell you, that's it..."  
"Then what can you tell us?" Elenia asked.  
"About your son Steve?"  
"Yes," Silas pressed through his teeth, getting slightly angry by now, "You remember we asked about him?"  
"Oh... Calm down Silas, being angry doesn't suit you well..."  
"Oracle!" Elenia said, and when she had the shining ball's attention she added, "please..."  
The Oracle chuckled again: "Well..."

& & & & &

In the past half hour since dinner had begun, Christopher felt like he'd spent more time dodging questions than eating. It was rather obvious that Bianca, Piper and Cole suspected something was off. He just hoped they didn't realize what. 'What's taking them so long?' he asked himself, wondering what Silas and Odin were doing that was preventing them from calling him. They should have jingled him by now. The fact that they hadn't was starting to worry him. And he didn't know what worried him more. That Bianca, Piper and Cole might figure him out, or what the Elders were going to find out about Steve from the Oracle.  
Piper meanwhile had just served the dessert, some chocolate cream. Something the witch-Elder actually loved but not this day.  
For a moment Christopher thought about faking that the others would call him, but Leo was there and he would knew that it was a lie. And as much as his dad loved him, Christopher knew he wouldn't let him escape like this. Or maybe he would, because he thought he was Chris...??? Or maybe he wouldn't even notice since he was actually busy with cleaning Wyatt who had splashed the chocolate cream on his shirt.  
"Ammm..." he said standing up, "I'm sorry I have to go... They are calling."  
"Oh..." Piper said looking a little disappointed.  
But Leo just smiled and without looking at his son he said. "I know you don't like those training sessions, but faking an Elder-call won't work."  
Christopher sighed and sat down again muttering a sarcastic "Thank you dad."  
"WHAT?" Piper now exclaimed a little too loud. "If you wouldn't be who you are I would ground you for a week for this, young man!"  
And Leo added: "You need to train this power, Chris."  
"But does it have to be today?" Christopher decided to take the offensive. "I had a very long day with lots of demons... I'm really not in the mood today."  
"Yeah... and maybe tomorrow a demon will attack you, that is immune to all your other powers, and then you'd wish you trained today, so stop complaining... we'll train after dinner and that's it!" Piper ranted.  
Christopher just nodded and rubbed his temples... he was so screwed.

& & & & &

Blue-white lights appeared in the foyer of the manor and formed into Paige. She looked around the room, checking for Kyle, and heard voices coming from the dining room. She walked over slowly peaking around the corner. Few! No Kyle. She thought as she noticed who was there. As long as Kyle didn't see her, she would be able to pull off her stunning little surprise.  
"Aun..." Chris(topher) started when he saw Paige.  
But he was cut off by a quick "Shh!" from her.  
He quickly snapped his mouth shut, surprised. The others at the table turned to see Paige lurking in the doorway. "Pai..." Piper started, but like her son, she was quickly cut off.  
"Not so loud!" Paige whispered harshly, looking around again. They were all looking at her as if she'd gone mad.  
"What's going on?" Leo whispered back, humoring her.  
"Where's Kyle?" she asked quietly, still looking around.  
"In the kitchen," Piper said, whispering this time. Paige visibly relaxed when she heard this. "What's going on?" Piper echoed Leo.  
"Nothing. I just want to surprise him. Have time to get ready and all. I'll be down in fifteen minutes. Don't tell him I'm here," she explained in a low tone, than disappeared up the stairs, leaving everyone in the dining room flabbergasted.  
She entered her room and went straight to her closet, carefully pulling out her new dress. She laid it on the bed, and returned to her closet to find the matching shoes. Once she had those laid out, she went to the bathroom and turned on the water for her shower. As the water was warming up, she tied up her hair, knowing she wouldn't have enough time to wash it and still be ready in time. Looking at her reflection in the mirror, she also decided not to wash her face. She could just touch up her makeup, since what she'd put on this morning was easily convertible to nighttime wear. By that time her shower was to her liking and she jumped in.

& & & & &

The hot shower felt wonderful against her skin, making her whole body relax. She felt much calmer now, much better. Nicki had spent the last twenty minutes in here, letting the watery warmth clean her of dirt, grime, and emotional cobwebs. The fact that Steve had asked her on a date, after all this time, was really wonderful. She felt like things were finally getting back to normal. Hopefully he'd gotten past all this stuff with the Ashon, and they could finally move forward with their relationship, start making plans. To Nicki, it felt like they hadn't moved forward since their engagement. Like Steve was so preoccupied with ridding the underworld of half his family, he hadn't been focusing on them. But now, with the warmth of the shower washing over her, she could feel things were about to change.

& & & & &

Veronica was in Nicki's room, going through her closet, and looking for the perfect outfit for her friend. She'd already taken out three for her to choose from. Considering they were going to meet in the park at this time of year and at night, she thought it would be best to leave the dresses on their hangers. So she picked out three nice pairs of pants, including Nicki's favorite hip- hugging jeans. She'd already laid out Nicki's new poncho, and now she was looking for a third top to put with Nicki's jeans. So far, she'd picked a sexy little red cami paired with an equally sexy red silk blouse to go with a pair of black slacks, and a lacy green top to go with a pair of forest green corduroys. But the perfect shirt for the jeans seemed to elude her. All of a sudden a thought came to her, and after making sure the shower was still running, she made her way to the Conjuring 101 classroom and picked up a few supplies.

& & & & &

Feeling happier than he had in a long time, Steve was collecting everything he needed for his picknick with Nicki. Blanket, basket, food and drink, he had gone over it in his mind until he had found everything he needed. Finally having found something else to focus all his energy on, felt great. A light seemed to be shining on him now. An ethereal light, warm and inviting, bringing hope back to his despair ridden soul. Seeing other couples walking hand in hand filled him with joy for a brighter future.  
With all his supplies, and some crystals for a protection circle (since he didn't trust his forcefield lately), he headed back to the park. The moon was rising higher, making it easier to see in the dark. And in the moonlight he spotted a young couple, the man on bended knee, holding his girlfriend's left hand. Proposing by moonlight. Steve's mind drifted back to his talk with Christopher on the bridge. _"I just want to marry her, build a family... I just wish they'd be all dead so that we could live in peace... But right now I'm not even sure if she still wants me,"_ he remembered himself saying, and then Christopher had told him something, some future information he shouldn't have. _"Well, as far as I know you and Nicki are married since... since forever. You're happy together, always have been."_ That thought alone made him feel like he could fly. He and Nicki would be happily married! His mind drifted more, to the future, and to his wedding day. Tom at his side, his best-man. Veronica standing opposite, Nicki's maid-of-honor. His mother and her parents sitting in the front row, so proud of them. The whole Halliwell clan and the rest of their friends there to show their support for the happy couple. Watching Nicki walk down the aisle, looking angelic in her white gown, a few stray curls framing her beautiful face... He couldn't quite picture her dress, or where they would marry, but he knew that wherever they ended up, it would be perfect. And with that happy thought, he started setting out his picknick.

& & & & &

Odin sighed and pressed the bridge of his nose. "This is useless..."  
"Don't tell me you wanna give up..." Elenia said looking at him, the desperation shining in her eyes. She knew herself that the Oracle seemed to be of no use since it wouldn't say anything helpful as it seemed. But she wasn't ready to give up the hope for some answers, not yet.  
Odin sighed again and looked at Silas who shrugged. "I don't," he said then, "I just don't know what to ask anymore."  
"Maybe you should ask a question," the Oracle suggested and Odin had a really hard time to not scream in frustration, while Silas couldn't help giggling slightly which gained him a pointed look from the female Elder.  
While they were trying to get some information out of that shiny ball, almost an hour had passed with out them really noticing it. But the Oracle kept losing track, on purpose of course.  
"Oracle," Elenia started again. "You told us that you can't say anything about Steve's future, right?"  
"Yes."  
"But you know about the future of him, do you?"  
"Yes."  
"So can you at least tell me if he'll be fine? If he'll be happy?"  
The Oracle kept silent for a moment, but its light was shining even brighter. Then it said: "He'll be fine with whatever he chooses. What worries me more is what effects that will have on everyone else..."  
"What do you mean?" Silas now asked. "What effects and who are those 'others'?"  
"That my friend, I can't tell... But remember everything is in circle. Every life is a circle in itself but also part of a bigger circle, a bigger union..."  
"What's that's supposed to mean?" Elenia asked frustrated.  
Odin shook his head and sat down on the ground: "I don't know..."  
The Oracle chuckled a little, though it seemed to be filled with pity, too. "All the answers lie already in front of you. You are just too blind to see. Some things I'm simply not meant to tell. Those you have to find out on your own to grow in your own way."

& & & & &

Julian was still staring at the monitor where he watched Steve's actions when Belthazor returned with a book in his hand, opened on a page somewhere in the middle. "Anything changed?" the red demon asked.  
Julian nodded. "It seems he calmed down again... actually it seems he's preparing a pick nick."  
"A what?" Belthazor asked confused. "At this time of year?" And as Julian just nodded he took a seat besides him showing him the book with the words: "Well it won't be of much use..."  
"What do you mean?" Julian asked and then skimmed through the entry in the book. It was an old book of the source's library and this special paragraph was about the Ashon. "Oh..." he then muttered.  
Belthazor nodded: "If I'm informed correctly the boy turned 20 last month... and today is the first full moon after that..."  
"This is not good," the demonic witch mumbled and rubbed his eyes which were burning from staring at the screen. Then he turned to his friend: "Do you think we should intervene?"  
Belthazor sighed at this question: "I'm not sure... I guess... I'm not sure..."  
"Well, we can't stop it anyway... He has to face this..." Julian said, but turning to the screen he added: "But I still will go there to make sure no one gets hurt."  
The source nodded and before he could stop himself he muttered: "Poor Nicki."  
Julian had to smile at this and couldn't help teasing: "You're getting weak..."  
Belthazor smirked: "All your fault... you are such a bad influence."  
Julian now laughed: "Yeah, that's why you like me so much..." Belthazor grumbled at this, preparing a fire ball, but before he could throw it, the demonic witch shimmered away to the park to have an eye on Steve...

& & & & &

Paige was almost done with her styling. She had have a shower and got her make up renewed. She got her hair done and now she was jumping into her dress. While she did, her eyes moved over the bed... and she smiled.  
Then she grabbed her handbag and pulled out that "little bit of nothing" she had bought the other day in that dessou-shop and until now hid it in her office... a bra and matching slip made of black silk and fine lace, which showed more than it hid. She grinned imagining Kyle's face when he'll see her wearing this. But that would be a surprise for later so she decided to hide the stuff in the bathroom on her way down to her date.  
Finally she took on her shoes and with another smile she left her room.

& & & & &

Meanwhile Nicki left the shower, too. Looking around she saw some clothes laid out on her bed, while her friend sat by the window.  
"Veronica? What are you doing?" she asked...  
The other witch looked up a little embarrassed: "Oh... I... I was just checking for you what to wear but I couldn't find anything matching your favorite jeans... So..."  
"So you thought you conjure something? You know that's personal gain, don't you?"  
Now the other witch laughed: "No, because it's not for me..." And with this she placed some herbs on a pill of other things Nicki couldn't identify that quickly and mumbled a few words. And with a little plop and a little bit of smoke all the stuff was gone and left was some dark fabric. Veronica dusted her hands on her own jeans before she picked up the shirt and showed it to her friend: "It's for you!"  
Nicki looked at the black shirt and smiled. It had long sleeves through it looked to be kind of short. And on the front there were little glass stones in the shape of a star and that star again was framed by the outline of a heart. It really looked nice and it absolutely was Nicki's style. "I love it," she commented and then hugged her friend. "But won't that be a little too cold?"  
Veronica nodded frowning. "Actually I wanted something to fit to your poncho, but it'll hide only the sweet design." So she went back to the closet and then when she emerged from it again she held a jeans-jacket in her hands which had the same color as the pants. "But with this, and the right make up, you'll just look gorgeous."  
"Well... I hope..."

* * *

_(Chapter 9 written by Kirianna Ledräen and Chrissy.W.x)_

__


	10. Chapter 10

**A Charmed Story - Part Thirteen:  
Freaky Friday  
Chapter 10**

_In the future..._  
The clanging of dishes could be heard coming from the kitchen. After a long but wonderful dinner, Chris had volunteered to do them. It gave him a chance to wrap his head around everything he had learned. And boy had he learn a lot!  
Piper had returned from the restaurant just before he had come back from Michael's, and she had immediately started on dinner. Leo and Hope had come home just after he had arrived, but soon people had started showing up whom he had never met before.  
It was about two and a half hours ago hat he had come home....  
_As the room became clearer and the orbs dissipated, Chris realized the room was no longer as he'd left it. His older self was no longer in the living room, even though Bianca was still there. She was reading a story to Liam, who was sitting in her lap. She looked up at him momentarily and smiled before returning her attention to her son. He watched them for a moment, enjoying the sight of mother and son bonding. Then he heard a cupboard closing in the kitchen and went to investigate.  
He smiled when he saw another case of mother and son bonding. This time it was his older self and his mother, Piper. They were talking and laughing quietly as they put away the groceries. It warmed his heart to see that he had such a close relationship with her, after what had happened in his own, no longer existent, horrible future. His older self turned to look at him just then, giving him a knowing glace before handing his mother, their mother, a box of noodles.  
_More dishes were placed on the counter, startling Chris out of his reverie. He turned just in time to see Patricia leaving the room to get another load. She had changed so much since he'd last seen her, before he'd finally succeeded in changing the future. Back then, when he saw her last, she'd been a teen, a crazy teen. But she also had to hide in the underworld, always in danger that Wyatt might find her. This time's Patty, the one he'd met earlier, was completely different. Through, in a strange way, something about her was still like he remembered it.  
_The front door opened and in came Jim, returning from meeting some friends. With him entered a pretty little brunette. Chris had come to see who had arrived home this time, since Leo and Hope had just interrupted his lurking in the kitchen. His first thought when he saw the girl, was that she was Jim's girlfriend. But then something about her seemed familiar to him. She caught his eye and a smile lit her face.  
"Chris!" she said, excitement brightening her features. She pulled him into a hug, and suddenly it came to him.  
"Patricia!" he said as he pulled his nineteen-year-old cousin within arms length. The last time he'd seen her, or better the version of her from his old timeline, she'd been a young teen. Now what he saw in front of him was a beautiful young woman, looking a lot like her mother, Phoebe. He pulled her back into a hug, feeling over joyed at this strange reunion.  
_Thinking about that now, he couldn't believe what his uncle Cole had said about her a couple of minutes ago. He had told him that Patty in fact had been a crazy and wild teen, not caring about anything else than her own fun. Just in the last couple of months she finally grew out of it. He shook his head and noted to himself to ask his cousin about that as soon as he would get the chance.  
Just then little arms wrapped themselves around Chris' legs, startling him. He looked down to find Kevin smiling up at him. He smiled down at the little boy who was holding on to him for dear life. And it wasn't long before he found out why. Bianca entered the kitchen, and as soon as she saw Kevin, a stern look crossed her face and she put her hands on her hips.  
"Kevin, let Chris go. It's passed your bedtime!" she told her second youngest. But he just held on tighter and shook his head. He wanted to play with Chris for a while longer.  
"I think you're scaring him," Chris said, holding back a laugh.  
"Good! Then maybe he'll be scared enough to listen to me!" Bianca said coming closer. "Kevin, come on. I've already let you stay up past your bedtime. You've had lots of time to play with Chris. It's time for bed now." Kevin defiantly shook his head once more.  
"It's okay buddy. We can play more tomorrow," Chris said, looking down at his son. Kevin loosened his grip a little, but still didn't let go.  
"Of course you two can still play tomorrow!" the elder Chris said as he entered the kitchen. "Come on, Kevin. Off to bed."  
And just like that, Kevin released Chris and ran to his father's arms, hugging him, then shimmered himself to bed.  
"How do you do that?" Bianca asked, perplexed. The elder Chris just smiled, put his arm around her shoulders, and led her from the kitchen, kissing her on the temple on the way. It seemed Chris was going to have a way with his kid that was beyond Bianca's comprehension. Well, with Kevin at least...  
_More orbs appeared and Chris was wondering who it was this time. But he was shocked to see that it was Victor. And with him were Matthew and Kevin. He barely noticed Kevin throwing his arms around his legs and hugging him, as he tried to figure out how Victor had been able to orb here with his two oldest sons.  
"Can we play?" Kevin asked, looking up at Chris with big wide eyes full of wonder.  
Victor smiled at him, obviously enjoying Chris's confusion. "Is Piper home?" he asked.  
Chris had to shake his head to clear it before he could answer. "She's in the kitchen," he finally managed. Meanwhile, Kevin was tugging at his shirt.  
"Thank you," the old man said as he ruffled Kevin's hair, then patted Chris on the shoulder before going to the kitchen to talk to Piper. Chris, mouth agape, watched Victor disappear around the corner. Hope and Matthew started to laugh, drawing his attention.  
"What's so funny?" he asked, looking between the two.  
"Your reactions. You haven't met the twins yet, have you?" Hope asked, a big smile crossing her face.  
"Yes he has," Rebecca said as she came down the stairs. Hope did a double take when she saw her purple streaked hair.  
"Does mom know about that?" she asked, motioning to her sister's hair.  
Rebecca subconsciously touched her hair, looking uncomfortable and guilty.  
"Yes mom knows." Bianca said, getting up, still holding Liam. "Aren't you supposed to be finishing your homework?" she asked Rebecca.  
"I was just coming down to get some water for Prisca, Natalie and myself," she answered. Bianca made a 'go-ahead' gesture, and Rebecca quickly walked passed and out of sight.  
"I want to play!!" Kevin said then, pulling at Chris's sides, trying to get his attention. They all laughed again. Chris took Kevin's hands in his and looked down at the little boy.  
"Okay! Let's go play."  
_Patricia brought the last of the dishes in and placed them next to the last pile she'd brought in. She watched her cousins for a minute, smiling. She was glad Chris was there. That much he had figured out over dinner. He smiled back at her, glad he'd gotten the chance to be there, too.  
When she was about to leave Chris took his chance and ask: "May I ask... Is it true? What your father said about you?"  
The young woman rolled her eyes, then said: "That's a long story..." She turned to the door when she heard her name being called from the living room. "Sorry," she said and left without another word.  
It was rather quiet in the kitchen again at the moment. Despite the sound of the clanking dishes. He looked over at his silent partner, wondering when he was going to open up...  
_"Is Nicki here yet?" Piper asked coming out of the kitchen, fork in hand. Looking around at her family that was gathered in the living room.  
"Not yet." Phoebe said. She and Paige had come home from Magic School about fifteen minutes ago. By then Chris and Kevin where in the middle of a game of tag, running all over the main floor. Kevin kept trying to get everyone else to play by tagging them. Matthew had some homework of his own to finish, so he had bailed early. Bianca had headed into the kitchen with Liam, leaving Leo, Jim, Patricia, and Hope to play with them. He had even managed to get Phoebe and Paige to play a little. But they and Leo had soon bowed out, letting the younger crowd play.  
"Nicki's coming?" Chris asked, stopping in mid stride, Kevin running into him from behind. Hope laughed then, picking up Kevin, and spinning around with him.  
"Not the Nicki you're thinking of. She's busy tonight. But you'll see her soon," Leo explained, slyly.  
"She's busy? That's all you're going to tell me? Wait. Don't say it. Future consequences?" Chris asked, feeling like a broken record.  
"You know it," Paige said, grinning. Chris shook his head and the others smiled. Kevin laughed out loud then capturing everyone's attention. Hope was tickling him, making him giggle and laugh. Chris smiled at his kids. It was great that they were getting along so well.  
"So, who is this Nicki who's coming to dinner then?" Chris turned to his dad, still smiling.  
"Your cousin." Phoebe said, a knowing smile on her face. Chris blinked. Another cousin? Just then the front door opened again, and voices could be heard.  
"Dad you are so unfair!" a teenage girl could be heard saying.  
"Do you think money grows on trees? We don't have an unlimited supply you know!" a familiar man's voice replied. Phoebe took in a deep breath and shook her head before getting up and going to the door. Curious, Chris followed. There he saw a brown haired girl, maybe fifteen or sixteen, a major scowl on her face, glaring at Cole. And Cole glared back.  
"What did you do this time?" Patricia asked, scornfully. Phoebe quickly turned on her.  
"Don't start!" she scolded her oldest, shoeing her back into the living room. Chris watched all this with interest. Phoebe noticed his look, and found a smile threatening to form on her lips. "They get along just like Prue and I used to," she explained a little sadly, remembering how she and her big sister used to fight.  
"You're grounded!" Cole practically yelled at Nicki, bringing Phoebe and Chris back to the problem at hand. Nicki glared at him and started towards the door, but Kyle was blocking her way. Chris hadn't even noticed him until then. He had come in with Cole and Nicki, but had kept quiet. Phoebe took charge then, stepping in front of her daughter.  
"To your room. Now. I'll call you when dinner is ready," she said, with no room for argument. Nicki looked at everyone, hoping to find at least one ally. Then her eyes fell on Chris, and thinking he was Christopher, opened her mouth to say something.  
"No. Do what your mother said," he cut her off before even one word could come out. She snapped her mouth shut, surprised at his reaction. Usually Christopher would have a helpless, sheepish look on his face. But not this time. His face was a calm mask, much like that of the older Chris...  
_Nicki came into the kitchen, her demeanor much calmer then when they had first met before dinner. Through she had gone up to her room feeling betrayed, it wasn't long before she found out that Christopher was actually Chris. Through that information hadn't nullified her grounding, but it had given her a little more freedom for the rest of the night instead of being confined to her room. She went straight to the fridge and grabbed a container of juice, then went to the cupboard for a glass. She was watching Chris from the corner of her eye, still trying to figure out what Christopher had done to switch places with him.  
"So, what's it like to time travel?" she finally got around to asking, after she returned the juice to the fridge. Chris looked up and glanced at her, a curious expression on his face.  
"You really want to know what it's like to time travel?" he asked her, surprised. She nodded her affirmation. "Well, it's confusing," he told her, glancing at his silent partner for assent. He didn't get any. Actually, he didn't get any emotion one way or the other from him.  
"Confusing?" she asked, looking between the two and wondering what was going on between them. They hadn't spoken two words to each other since dinner. Actually, Wyatt hadn't even spoken to the older Chris either.  
"Yeah. Trying to keep your facts and your grammar straight can give you a real headache," Nicki just rolled her eyes at his response in typical teenage fashion.  
"Yeah, whatever," she said before leaving the kitchen...  
_"Okay, everyone here?" Piper asked as she counted heads while placing a platter in the middle of the table. Everyone looked around, doing the same. All eyes then fell on a lone empty chair.  
"Where's Wyatt?" Piper then asked looking around at everyone.  
Her gaze fell on the elder Chris, who was wearing a sheepish look. "I don't know. He left angry just after Chris brought Julia and Michael home," he explained.  
Piper let out a loud sigh. She knew there was tension between Michael and Wyatt. She just hoped that it could be fixed. She turned her gaze to the ceiling then, and called out: "Wyatt! Wyatt! Come home please! Dinner is ready!"  
A few seconds passed before orbs formed and Wyatt appeared. Without a word, he sat down and patiently waited for his mom to sit and start passing the food around.  
_Chris heard a little snicker from beside him, and he looked at Wyatt. For the first time tonight, there was something other then a scowl on his face. And that made Chris smile. It seemed that Wyatt had blamed him for something he hadn't even done yet, and that had hurt his feelings. Here, in the future, Wyatt was the big brother he was supposed to have. They were supposed to joke and laugh, like Hope and Kevin had been doing earlier. Well, not exactly like that. And they had, earlier that afternoon. But ever since Michael had appeared, Wyatt had tensed up. And when he had returned from orbing Michael and Julia home, Wyatt was nowhere to be seen. Chris wished he'd asked his older self what had happened after he'd left. Maybe then he would know what to say to Wyatt to make things right again.

& & & & &

_Meanwhile in our time..._  
When Tom returned to his friends' room he let out a whistle at the sight of Nicki: "You really look hot in this, girl!"  
"Oh really?" Veronica asked sending him a glare, while Nicki blushed.  
The man smiled and went over to his girl to kiss her. And when they parted he said: "But no one can top you of course."  
"Well I hope you mean that..." Veronica replied teasingly.  
Tom smiled at her, putting his arms around her: "Of course I do, love..."  
Nicki cleared her through before the couple could kiss again. And when they looked at her she said: "Well, could you shimmer me to the park before you start a make out session?"  
Now it was Tom who blushed, but extended his hand: "Of course, I will..." Then he turned to Veronica, saying: "You don't mind a little stopover before I shimmer us to my bedroom, do you?" Veronica giggled at this. Then she gave him a kiss on the cheek before shaking her head. And so all three disappeared, leaving the magic school behind.

& & & & &

A couple of moments later Steve saw a figure walking through the park. It took a moment then he realized that it was his date. So he walked over to get her. "Nicki!" he called to get her attention.  
When the witch heard her name she turned around to see Steve running over to her. "Hey," she greeted when he reached her, a little out of breath.  
"Hey," he replied, and then taking a real look at her for the first time. He smiled looking deep into her eyes. "You look wonderful," he whispered before bending down and giving her a soft kiss.  
Then he took her arm and let her over the meadow... When they had reached a spot almost in the middle he muttered a short spell and a circle with crystals appeared and within that circle there was a blanket spread out. Dozens of candles lit the area and by the blanket there was a basket with some sandwiches and fruits and wine.  
"Oh Steve, that's wonderful," Nicki said in admiration.  
"All for you," he said and guided her to the blanket to sit down. And when they both sat facing each other he took her hands and looked deep into her eyes. "Nicki, I..." He wasn't sure how to start, but then he thought straight forward would be the best. So he said: "I am sorry. I wasn't around much lately, always worrying. But you have to understand that you mean everything to me and... and I couldn't stand losing you. I just want us to be able to live in peace... I know I treated you not in the way I should, but, please, believe me when I say that I love you with all my heart, with every cell of my being."  
Nicki smiled at him, her eyes wet. "Oh Steve," she sobbed as she pulled him close to her arms, "I love you, too."  
A few yards away, Julian was hid behind a few bushes, observing the scene in front of him with worry.

& & & & &

_In the future..._  
Going back to the dishes, Chris just kept going over in his mind what could have happened. What would have been said to make Wyatt so angry with him? He knew the only reason Wyatt was helping him with the dishes in the first place was because Piper had asked him to. She had seen that something was going on between them, and thought that maybe they could talk it out. But the problem was, Wyatt wasn't talking. He seemed content to dry the dishes in silence. It was frustrating Chris to no end. 'Hell with it!' he thought.  
"What did I do to make you hate me all of a sudden?" he asked, trying the direct approach. Wyatt put his hands to his sides, and took a deep breath before turning to face Chris.  
"You betrayed me!" the look in Wyatt's eyes scared Chris. He'd seen that look so long ago, in another life, but it would always haunt him.  
"How did I betray you?" he asked, inadvertently taking a step back.  
"You took Michael's side! You always take Michael's side!" Wyatt almost yelled at him, his face turning red with anger.  
"Wyatt..."  
"I'm your brother! Why can't you ever side with me? What did I ever do to make you side with everyone else but me?" Hot tears made their way down Wyatt's cheeks, and his breaths were short and shallow. Prisca took one step into the kitchen and saw the distressed look on Chris's face and stopped. Piper quickly came up behind her, pulling her away from the kitchen and the private conversation inside.  
"Wyatt I never betrayed you," Chris said, taking a step forward this time.  
"Then why did you take his side again!?" He was just barely controlling his anger.  
"I didn't..."  
"Yes you did! What the hell do you think that was this afternoon?" Wyatt took a swing at the counter and a glass was knocked onto the floor, shattering. He backed away from the broken glass, frustration compiling on top of the anger.  
"That wasn't me..." Chris tried again.  
"Yes it was!" If looks could kill, Chris would have been skewered. But he knew now he was going to have to make Wyatt separate himself from the older Chris. Like they'd had to do with him and Christopher so many years ago.  
"Okay. Yes it was me. But not the me in front of you. I haven't done anything yet." Wyatt glared at him even more. "Look. Whatever I told you, will tell you, I don't know what it is. And I'm sorry. I'm truly sorry. But you are my brother. And Michael is my friend..."  
"Yes, I'm your brother. Which means you should be taking my side! Not his!" Wyatt interrupted him, coming closer.  
"Look, whatever was said that makes you think I'm taking his side, I'm sure there is an explanation for it," he tried again.  
"Oh yeah? Then explain it! Cause I'd love to hear it!" Wyatt was in Chris's face now. There was so much anger and betrayal in his eyes, it was ripping Chris's heart out. He felt like he was back in his own future, the one that had been changed, but this time it wasn't. Wyatt was angry at him for betraying him. It felt so familiar and yet so wrong. Wyatt was good, but he was also hurt. And he had no idea what was going on. His older counterpart hadn't told him anything. He didn't even know what had been said between the two. Or why. So how could he explain it when it hadn't even happened to him yet?  
Just then orbs appeared next to them and Natalie formed, blue streaks and all. The looks on their faces made her pause, her eyes wide. Wyatt was clearly upset, and Chris was trying to sooth him. They both looked at her then, Wyatt momentarily transferring his anger to her, telling her to leave with a look. She quickly orbed back out, forgetting about her reason for coming to the kitchen in the first place. Chris grabbed Wyatt by the arm, turning him to face him, a scowl on his face. His eyes telling Wyatt it wasn't okay for him to get angry with his daughter.  
They traded angry stares for a moment, Wyatt waiting for Chris's explanation for why he'd taken Michael's side. 'I never took sides!' he thought. He didn't want to say anything just yet, for fear his anger would make him say something he'd regret. At least Wyatt seems to be thinking the same thing.  
A thought occurred to him then, as his mind went back to the look Wyatt had given Natalie. She was far from innocent that was for certain, but she hadn't deserved Wyatt's anger. There had been even more fear on her face then this afternoon when his older self had busted her to her mom. The fact that he'd known about the hair had surprised her and her sister. But what did they know about time travel anyway? What the younger one finds out, so does the older one. Wait a minute... It suddenly all became clear. Whatever the older Chris knew, he must have learned it when he had come to the future twenty-three years earlier. Which meant that Chris was going to find out soon himself. And whatever that was, that was the reason Wyatt thought he was taking Michael's side. So it must have to do with Wyatt and Michael's relationship. Whatever it was.  
"Wyatt, look. Whatever is going on, whatever happened to make you think I'm taking Michael's side, it hasn't happened yet," Chris started to explain, finally feeling confident enough and calm enough now to speak.  
"What the hell are you talking about? How could it not have happened yet?" The anger in Wyatt's eyes was replaced with confusion for a moment.  
"I'm from the past. My older self was in my shoes twenty three years ago. So whatever I find out while I'm here, he has known it for that long." Wyatt continued to look at him, the confusion now slowly being replaced by understanding. "Something must happen in the next couple of days that I'll find out about and keep to myself once I've returned to my time. Which means my older self knows what's coming. So if I'm taking sides at all, which I don't think I really am, it's because of whatever is coming." Wyatt's breathing was finally returning to normal. It seemed to Chris that what he'd just said was making sense to him. Wyatt himself had time traveled a few times, so he did have an understanding of how it worked. And hopefully it was enough for him to let go of his anger.  
"So what am I supposed to do? Just let you take Michael's side?" Wyatt finally said after a few moments of silence.  
"Yes. At least until we find out what's going on. And that has to be soon, right? Unless Christopher stays in the past for a few months that is." The sheepish look on Chris's face, and the mention of Christopher made them both laugh. They both pictured Christopher in the past trying to hide who he really was, and failing miserably.  
"Christopher. I should blame all this on him," Wyatt said, the fight gone completely out of him.  
"Yeah, you do that," Chris laughed then, knowing the minute Christopher returned he'd have everyone demanding answers. And Chris knew from experience how demanding those questions were going to be. He'd been on the receiving end of those types of questions from his family many times before.  
Wyatt, on the other hand, was finally looking relaxed again. He was definitely the good Wyatt Chris had saved. And joking about Christopher had been good for both of them. As the laughter dissipated, it dawned on them that they still had a pile of dishes to do. And there was still the broken glass on the floor that needed to be picked up. Working together they quickly cleaned up the mess and got back to the dishes, still chuckling a little.  
Another question surfaced in Chris's mind just as he started washing again. He knew he probably shouldn't ask, but it was really starting to get to him. Future consequences be damned!  
"Wyatt, can I ask you something? Future consequences aside?" Wyatt looked at him, an intrigued look on his face.  
"Go ahead."  
"So, I was wondering. There are over a dozen people living in this house. I know we enlarged it before, but I can't see there being enough land to make the house big enough for everyone. So how did you do it?" Wyatt burst out laughing at this, confusing Chris. What could possibly be so funny?  
"Let's just say..." Wyatt began, trying to get his laughter under control. "Let's just say you should take a tour through the house before you leave. I'm sure it will come to you. And one other little thing. It wouldn't hurt if you were nice to Mrs. Noble now and then. Currently she's thinking about selling her house... And with an ever expanding family, we could need the space." He gave Chris a wink than, and started laughing again. Chris shook his head, but definitely thought of making it a point to tour the house as soon as possible...

& & & & &

_Back in the Present...  
_Kyle was putting the finishing touches on dessert when movement caught his eye. What he saw before him, standing in the kitchen doorway, was a vision. He knew it was impolite to stare, but he just couldn't help himself. Paige stood there watching him watch her, a sweet smile on her face. She had gotten the reaction she'd hoped for, through she wished she'd had a little more time to prepare correctly.  
"Oops. Sorry," Piper said from behind Paige, a pile of dishes in her hands. She hadn't wanted to interrupt the couple, but thought they must have gone outside by now.  
"It's okay, Piper. We were just heading outside," Kyle said as he quickly regained himself and came over, offering Paige his arm.  
"Outside? Isn't it a little cold?" Paige asked, letting herself be led outside. Piper smiled at her as she placed the dishes in the sink.  
"I've already figured that out," he said as he showed her to the area he had set up. "With a little help, of course."  
Paige's mouth dropped at the sight. Dozens of candles had been placed around the area, their flames flickering in the light breeze. A bouquet of red roses was set on the table, just off to the side so they'd be able to see each other as they ate. The fireplace was roaring nearby, heating the whole area. And the full moon, now almost completely overhead, was lending its light, and adding to the romantic atmosphere. Paige was completely touched. That he'd go to so much trouble for her. Now she really wished she'd had more time to prepare better.  
"Oh Kyle! It's wonderful!" she gushed as he led her to a chair and held it out for her. In front of her as she sat, was a covered plate, just waiting to reveal its delicious surprise. She wondered if maybe it was a cold dish, not knowing how long it might have been out here. But one thing was for certain, it sure smelled good! As soon as Kyle was sure she was settled in her chair, he moved partway around the table, placing himself in front of both covers, and with a flourish, removed them, releasing a duel puff of steam. 'So much for the cold meal theory,' Paige thought, pleasantly surprised.  
"So how did you keep the food warm?" Paige asked as she leaned in a little to admire the presentation.  
"A chef never reveals his secrets," Kyle said coyly, thinking back to a few minutes ago.  
_Footsteps could be heard coming near the stairs, and as Cole looked up he saw Paige's foot appear. He'd placed himself at the bottom of the stairs the second Leo had sensed Paige was out of her room. Piper meanwhile had rushed into the kitchen to help Kyle fill the plates and put them outside under the covers, adding a little spell so they held in the heat better.  
As Christopher watched all this, it had actually been the most fun he'd had all night. Enjoying the little conspiracy his family had cooked up to help Kyle woo Paige while he could. Since in twenty to thirty minutes, if Odin hadn't summoned him, he'd be surely busted. And unfortunately, the little conspiracy was over too quickly for his liking, since Cole came into the dinning room then.  
"She's coming!" he said in a harsh whisper as he sat back down at his place. Leo was standing by the kitchen door waiting for Piper.  
"Piper! She's coming! Quick!" Leo said quietly as she and Kyle came back inside. Kyle placed himself behind the counter to finish making his dessert, and Piper and Leo rushed back to their chairs, just in time...  
_Kyle poured them both a glass of sparkling cider then sat down. He raised his glass for a toast and waited for Paige to do the same.  
"To a beautiful evening. To a resplendent date. And to a delicious dinner," Kyle said with a big smile, clinking his glass with Paige's. Her cheeks turned bright red at his compliment, seeing another reason why she loved him so much.  
They sat quietly, eating and enjoying each others company. The only conversation they had was light, no talk of work or demons. Kyle enjoyed the look of delight as Paige took her first bite, knowing his mother's casserole was performing its magic. He was so glad they'd made this date. Everything was perfect. The lighting, the mood, the food, Paige. The Universe couldn't have given them a more perfect night.

& & & & &

Meanwhile inside the manor Piper and Chris(topher) had started with the training. For now - since mother and son were just on the dry runs right now - Cole and Bianca sat on the sofa observing them, while Leo was upstairs, taking care of the kids, reading them a story again before it was time for bed. "Ok... remember," Piper said, "concentrate on what you want to do, feel it deep inside of you..."  
Christopher had closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. He knew it wouldn't work since he really didn't have that power... he wasn't Chris after all, there were differences between them, and freezing things was one of them.  
Therefore he listened only halfway to his mother's explanations, and still prayed for his Elder-friends to jingle him... still there was time, but it was surly ticking to an end.  
"Chris, do you listen?" Piper then asked, pulling him out of his thoughts.  
"Huh?" He looked at her confused for a second, then added: "Yeah... yeah of course."  
Cole meanwhile shot Bianca a look that clearly said that he didn't believe a word of what his nephew had said, and the Phoenix just nodded in agreement.  
"Ok... let's get to the practical training then," Piper said and turned to the two on the sofa. "Cole would you be so kind to assist?"  
The witch grinned. "Of course," he said. He loved to throw Piper's precious vase through the room, knowing that at least she would save the things from shattering to pieces. Through Chris had made a lot of progress, he sometimes lacked the needed concentration. So Cole took the vase with a smile and turned to Chris(topher). "Ready?" he asked.  
"Does it help when I say no?" his nephew asked back, knowing that this was it... there was no way out of it. If there wasn't a miracle happening right now, giving him the required ability he would be busted a soon as the vase left his uncle's hand.  
Cole just grinned at him and threw the vase into the air. Christopher moved his hands around, trying at least not to use his telekinetic powers. And of course nothing happened, the vase didn't freeze in mid air, and only stopped its fall a few inches before falling on the carpet, stopped by Piper herself.  
Cole sighed and picked the vase up to place it back where it belonged while Piper stepped closer to her son. "What the hell was that?" she asked a little angry. "I know you are far better than that!"  
"I... I don't know..." Christopher tried.  
But Bianca, who had a deep frown on her face, had stood up already and stepped now closer to him putting her right hand over his heart. For a moment she closed her eyes, then she looked up at him sharply, saying: "He doesn't have that power anymore."  
"WHAT?" Piper asked.  
But the next moment she looked at Cole who looked at the man in front of him with narrowed eyes and asked: "Ok buddy, who are you?"  
"What? Cole, are you crazy?" Bianca asked.  
But Piper agreed with the witch and rose her hands, her eyes deadly calm: "Whoever you are you better talk if you don't want me to blow you up."  
"PIPER!" Bianca exclaimed.  
But Christopher just lowered his eyes, muttering: "I'm sorry mom... But it's not like you think..."  
"Oh I bet..." Cole said with a dry laugh.  
"Chris?" the Phoenix now asked confused.  
Christopher sighed, looking at her. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt anyone. I just needed some help..." Then he turned back to his mom and continues. "Help no one would give me. And then I messed up things, but I didn't mean to, really I didn't. I didn't mean to be here, I didn't mean to mess up everything... I just didn't know what to do," he tried to explain, his voice week, and... helpless?  
Cole frowned at this, this sounded absolutely not like the Chris he knew. And also Bianca felt even more confused now.  
Just Piper... Piper heard something in his voice, saw something in his eyes, saw something in his whole appearance... And suddenly she knew: "Christopher."

* * *

_(Chapter 10 written by Kirianna Ledräen and Chrissy.W.x)_


	11. Chapter 11

**A Charmed Story - Part Thirteen:  
Freaky Friday  
Chapter 11**

Steve and Nicki were sitting on the blanket in the park, holding each other tightly. They had eaten all the nice stuff he had prepared and his fiancée had to admit that it was delicious. Now they were just holding onto each other, enjoying the beautiful moment in this beautiful night, enjoying being close together again. During their dinner they had talked. Steve had apologized a couple of times, and Nicki did, too. Somehow both knew that this night meant a change in their relationship, they would start new, facing their problems together this time.  
"I love you so much," Steve whispered into her ear, making her giggle.  
"I love you," she replied then, turning to him to give him a kiss.  
It really was a perfect moment, something both would treasure in their heart for eternity. That was until they heard the sound of breaking branches.  
"What was that?" Nick asked sitting up.  
"I'm not sure," Steve replied looking around, worried.  
Then they heard the sound again.  
"Maybe we should go back," Nicki suggested. Steve nodded and they hastily grabbed their things together.  
But then Nicki caught some movement form the corner of her eyes. "Oh my God," she said and stepped closer to Steve.  
The man had seen it too... them... Ashon... lots of Ashon... 20 or more... Steve had the feeling that the whole clan was there. They were suddenly there, all around them, surrounding them, slowly stepping closer.  
"Shit," the man muttered as the anger began to boil in his veins. Why had they have to come, why couldn't they let them live their life in peace? His eyes flashed yellow again for a moment.  
"Don't worry," he said then as he turned to Nicki. "The crystals should protect us for a while." Then he turned to the sky and called: "Christopher! I need help!"  
A murmuring went through the group of Ashon. Steve had expected his friend to appear right away but nothing happened. Again his eyes turned yellow as he looked to the sky again, while Nicki clung to him fearful. "CHRISTOPHER???? MOM???? TOM???? ANYONE????"

& & & & &

Belthazor sat in front of the computers watching the scene in the park from the distance. He knew - even with being the Source - he had no right to interfere. It was the right of the Ashon to take care of their own, and Steve was one of their own.  
Still he was worried, worried about Julian. He shouldn't have let the witch go - demonic powers or not. It was a risk for him to be near all this. He could easily get caught in the line of fire when things went out of hand. And the source wasn't sure if he could handle losing his friend. As weird as that was, Belthazor really cared about this witch. He had saved him from Zankou's dungeons by accident... actually he just wanted to kill his rival. But what he got was so much more than he had ever expected. He got a real, a true friend.  
But Belthazor knew, how much he ever cared for his friend, this didn't matter. If he would go there and appear in this situation, the Ashon would feel betrayed. And with him 'acting weird' and ordering to not attack the Charmed Ones, this would be another light to feed to the fire of a rebellion.  
He might never talk to Julian about it, but he suspected his friend knew... He suspected Julian knew that Belthazor's position wasn't the best at the moment. He was weak, he cared for others... and his demons knew that, too.  
So he had to stay calm and watch from the distance as the Ashon encircled Steve and Nicki, coming closer to them step by step. He just hoped Julian was hidden safely, outside of this ring...

& & & & &

In the dark room just some muffled moans were heard accompanied with the fizzle of fabric. Veronica startled to giggle when Tom's lips brushed softly over a sensitive spot on her neck, right below her earlobe.  
"I love you... so much..." he declared before his lips started to wander lower.  
"I know," Veronica giggled, "and I love you, too..."  
"Yeah...?" he asked teasingly. And when she nodded, his hands lightly brushed over her sides, tickling her, making her laugh heartily.  
"That's unfair," she complained still laughing. But Tom claimed her lips again with his own, stopping her from further arguing.  
For a while there was no other sound heard then the sound of love.  
But then Tom suddenly tensed through he didn't stop the kiss...  
_"Tom? TOM? Please we need some help here!"_ he heard Steve in his mind.  
_"Not now buddy, I'm busy..."_ he sent back to his friend, trying to block him out right after that. He wouldn't let his friend ruin that moment.  
But Steve's reply was faster than him: _"What is more important than the whole Clan of the Ashon encircling us?"_  
Tom sat up with a groan.  
"What?" Veronica asked since she had no idea about the silent conversation.  
Tom switched on the lights and looked at his girlfriend apologetically. "I'm sorry," he said and rose to get his clothes.  
"What's going on?" she asked still not understanding.  
But Tom explained: "Steve... He called, troubles with his demonic family... all of them as it seems..."  
Veronica was out of the bed in a millisecond putting on her clothes, too, saying: "Come on, let's hurry then..."  
Tom nodded and grabbed her hand as soon as they were both dressed, shimmering them to the park.

& & & & &

Christopher was by now sitting on the sofa, Bianca and Cole sat face of him as Piper paced in front of him. After the Charmed One had said his name, all pieces clicked into place also for the others. Bianca had felt a kind of relieve at first that she didn't really fight with her husband but now she was worried where he was right that moment. Cole on the other hand found this situation weird, but somehow also amusing. And Piper? She was both relieved and worried, same as the Phoenix, through she also felt a lot of anger.  
Christopher had begun to explain things to them in detail, but the Charmed One kept interrupting him, saying that he was so grounded for this, among other things.  
"Ok... stop it Piper," Bianca then said rising to her feet, stopping the woman before she could start another rant. Then she turned to Christopher asking: "When you are here, then tell me: where is my husband?"  
"I don't know..." Christopher said, "I guess... he is in the future..."  
Both women were speechless after hearing this. So Cole asked. "What makes you think he's in the future?"  
The witch-Elder shrugged: "Where else should he be... he surly is fine or else Wyatt and Hope would have stopped me because they..." He stopped in midsentence.  
"What?" Piper asked.  
Christopher looked up: "Steve's calling me, he needs help."  
"What? Oh... No no no... you will stay here young man until we figured this out, got it... I won't let you..."  
"But..."  
"No buts... you'll stay here until we know what to do about this mess..." Bianca agreed with her mother in law.  
"But mom," Chris complained, right when the old grandfather's clock started to announce the full hour, "he's in trouble, he needs help!  
Cole turned to the clock and then back to Christopher, remembering the vision he had have earlier. And while Piper was already arguing again he calmly said: "I think we should let him go."  
Both women turned to him sharply, wanting now from him an explanation. So the man sighed and explained: "I don't know for sure, but... did you hear the clock? What if all this has to do with the premonition I had? Because during that one I heard the clock, too. It's just a feeling, but I think he needs to go... we all need to go..."  
Piper sighed and nodded and turned to her son: "Where?"  
"Golden Gate Park," Christopher said and then orbed away, knowing that they others would follow him.

& & & & &

Silas sighed as he sat down on the stone floor. This was getting them nowhere as it seems. The Oracle could only tell him that Steve would make his own decision and whatever path he'll take he'll be happy with it. Ok, so far that was nice... But there was still this comment about 'the others not liking it'. They had tried to find out more about this, but the Oracle doesn't want to clarify, it doesn't even want to give them some hints.  
Elenia was worried about this, and didn't want to leave this place. But Silas by now thought that this was all useless... a useless waste of time.  
Odin had begun to feel the same way, through he also understood the female Elder. In former times he might have not understand her, but since he was Christopher's godfather, he knew what it meant to care for one being instead of all beings in this world. He understood the difference, and that's why he understood Elenia's worries. But by now he did agree with Silas and tired to convince her to let things be... to take a rest and maybe try again the next day. "Maybe the Oracle will be a bit more talkative then," he just said.  
Elenia turned to him, her eyes a mixture of worry and anger, and shook her head: "This thing will never help us..."  
"Oh... now I'm hurt... I always helped you in the past and I'll always help you in the future," the Oracle answered ton this, "but right now an answer won't help you anyway..."  
Odin rose an eyebrow looking at the shining ball: "Then I suggest you better say nothing at all anymore or can't you see that you bring even more distress to this woman?"  
"I pretend I haven't heard that," the Oracle gave back. "By the way, I really don't understand why you are still here and not where you should be right now."  
"What's that supposed to mean?" Silas now asked with another sigh.  
But Odin suddenly rose his eyebrows. "Christopher," he muttered.  
And "oh" escaped Silas lips as he rose. They had completely forgotten to jingle him. Hopefully it wasn't to late already... And hurriedly they dragged the confused Elenia out of the Oracle chamber while the shining ball in their back started to chuckle.  
As soon as they stepped out of the protected room Odin wanted to call their friend, but Elenia suddenly paled visibly.  
"Oh my God," she babbled, "Steve... he's calling me... he's in trouble!"  
Silas shrugged and Odin said: "Then let's go..." And so all three orbed to where they sensed the half-Elder.

& & & & &

Meanwhile Phoebe finally returned from magic school. The first thing she noticed when she stepped into the manor was that it was unusual quiet. Frowning she went down the steps to the ground floor checking every room. But no one was there. Looking out of the window she saw Paige and Kyle by the fireplace, enjoying a romantic dinner. For a moment she thought about asking them if they had seen anyone, but then decided against it. She didn't want to destroy the lovely atmosphere out there. So she climbed the steps again and finally heard some voices from the nursery. Entering she found Leo sitting on the side of Wyatt's bed and reading his sons and Hope a story.  
But when he heard her step into the room he looked up. "Phoebe... Nice you're back, you missed a fabulous dinner."  
"Yeah I'm sorry, I had to check something out... Where is the rest?" she replied.  
Now Leo frowned: "Aren't they down in the living room?"  
Phoebe shook her head: "No... No one seems to be home except us and the lovebirds in the garden..."

& & & & &

The full moon was hanging high in the sky now, having reached its apex. Its silver light shone down on the scene below making everything easy to see - including the two dozen or so Ashon standing just outside a protective circle.  
Steve, standing just in front of Nicki in a shielding manner, watched them watching him. They seemed to be looking for a way passed the crystals. All Steve could think of was getting Nicki out of there, and fast! 'Where the hell is everyone?' he thought angrily. They should all have come by now. They had never let him down before. His eyes caught those of an Ashon, the demon grinned evilly at him.  
One of them stepped forward then, taking a place of power in their circle, then spoke. "Steve. Lower the shield and come with us," the demon said in a commanding voice.  
"Never!" Steve yelled back, holding on to Nicki's arm, and keeping her behind him.  
"Lower the shield. We have business to discuss. You have to come with us," the demon repeated, taking a step forward.  
"No!" Steve yelled again, taking a step back. His eyes flashed yellow again for a moment. There was no way he'd ever go with them.  
"Lower the shield, and we won't hurt your friend," the demon tried again, taking yet another step forward. Steve's eyes turned yellow again, staying that way longer this time. He would never, ever, under any circumstances let them hurt Nicki. "I'll never let you hurt Nicki!" he yelled, feeling the anger build inside him.  
"She's not the friend I was referring to," he said, then lifted his hand and motioned one of his clan-mates forward. A big burly demon, a bit big for an Ashon actually, came forward dragging a semiconscious Julian with him. He dropped him at the speaker's feet, eliciting a groan from the witch. Steve's mouth dropped when he saw him. He had no idea what Julian could have been doing there. But fear filled him then, fighting for domination with the anger. Should he stay safe inside the crystals with Nicki and wait for help to come? Or should he let down the shield and save Julian? But he was sure the Ashon wouldn't let them live no matter what he did. They were demons. So what could he do?  
"This is my last offer. Let down the shield and come with us, and your friends can go free," the Ashon spoke again.  
"What happens if I don't?" Steve found himself asking. Julian tried to push himself up then, trying to shake the cobwebs from his head that the big Ashon had given him when he'd hit him from behind. He was wishing now he'd turned himself invisible.  
The Ashon looked at him for a minute, a smile creeping unto his face. Then without any warning, he kicked out, hitting Julian in the head, sending him sprawling. Nicki let out a gasp, and clutched Steve's arm tighter. The anger in Steve was building to dangerous levels. He couldn't just stand there and let them hurt Julian! But he couldn't risk Nicki either.  
The head Ashon lit a fireball then, hovering it near Julian. "So what will it be?" he asked casually. His red eyes showing he was being anything but casual. Steve looked back at Nicki, then at Julian, torn between protecting his love and helping his friend.  
"Steve, don't!" Julian got out before the big Ashon grabbed him by the throat and pulled him to his feet. Steve's eyes were starting to turn from yellow to orange now, and his skin was greying in the moonlight.  
"Steve, please! You have to help him. We're witches, we can hold them off until help comes! Please!" Nicki pleaded from behind him. Steve was having a hard time to decide, but he knew he couldn't let them kill Julian.  
"Well?" the Ashon said, aiming his fireball at Julian, ready to throw it.  
"Don't!" Julian strangled out, clutching at his captor's hands, his feet barely touching the ground.  
"Steve!" Nicki pleaded, squeezing his arm tighter. The demon pulled back his arm, just about to hurl the fireball.  
"Stop!" Steve yelled, taking a step forward this time. The demon lowered his arm, but didn't extinguish the fireball. "Let him go," Steve said, taking another step forward, and removing Nicki's hand from his arm.  
"Will you come with us?" the demon asked, looking suspiciously at Steve.  
The young man sighed: "Just don't hurt Nicki or Julian."

& & & & &

Belthazor watched in horror as the big Ashon held Julian up by the neck. It killed him that he couldn't interfere. He couldn't watch as his best friend was being hurt like that, but he also couldn't turn away. When he first saw the Ashon bring Julian forward, he'd grabbed the edge of the desk, digging his claws in. And that seemed to be the anchor he needed to not rush up there and tear them apart.  
It was a few heartbeats before the head Ashon signaled for the big one to let Julian go. Julian crumbled to the ground, coughing and rubbing his throat. A look passed between him and Steve, but Belthazor wasn't sure exactly what it was from his angle. But he was definitely glad that they'd released Julian. He just hoped the others would answer Steve's call for help soon.

& & & & &

Nicki stayed right where she was. Afraid to move. 'Where could they be?' she asked herself, wondering why no one had come yet. She watched Steve move slowly to one of the crystals, ready to pick it up, failing to see the look that passed between him and Julian. But then she'd been too preoccupied with the strangeness she'd felt in his arm a moment ago. And the change in his eyes and color of his skin... She thought she was dreaming. Was he changing?  
Steve reached the crystal then, never letting his eyes leave those of the head Ashon, he slowly bent down to pick up the crystal. His fingers wrapped around the rocky substance, forcing him not to look at Julian. He lifted the crystal then, and lowered the shield.  
Julian watched him closely, the second the crystal left the ground he jumped forward, somersaulting behind the invisible shield line, and coming up in a low fighting stance. But neither him nor Steve noticed the demon hanging back just behind and to the right of the big Ashon. And just as Steve lifted the crystal and Julian jumped forward, this Ashon let fly a fireball. Right at Nicki.  
She yelled out and hit the ground, drawing Steve and Julian's attention. Steve dropped the crystal, but he'd move too far and the shield never came back up. His heart stopped when he saw Nicki lying in the grass, her new top charred and covered in blood. The anger started to bubble inside him now, turning his eyes bright orange.  
"Nicki!" he heard a voice call, but the rushing anger made the voice unrecognizable. Only when Veronica dropped down beside her did he realize whom the voice belonged to.  
Turning back to face the demons, Julian backed up and watched the Ashon who'd hit Nicki turn to ice. He turned back again and saw Tom standing there and Veronica yelling out Nicki's name and running to her side. He backed up then until he was next to Tom.  
"Took you long enough!" Julian berated him.  
"Sorry. I was kind of busy," Tom replied, not happy with the situation, and feeling bad enough already. He didn't need Julian ragging on him. He glanced over at Veronica, who was cradling Nicki's head in her lap, and then at Steve. His back was to Tom, but Tom could see he was breathing heavily from the way his shoulders were heaving. What little of his skin he could see also seemed rather greyish in the moonlight.  
The Ashon were closing in, forcing Tom and Julian to take up stances near the girls. Steve stayed planted where he was, so angry he couldn't move. Tom was wondering what was taking so long for the Ashon to attack. Each of them was tossing a fireball in the air, as if they were pitchers at a ball game, just waiting to start. And the friends were severely outnumbered, and one down already. Easy pickings. And the fact that Tom could shimmer them all out never crossed anyone's mind.  
Just then white and blue lights appeared nearby along side a shift in the air. Christopher, Piper, Bianca and Cole had barely materialized when the Ashon let loose their fireballs. Tom and Julian, distracted by the orbing and shimmering, barely got out of the way in time. Julian pulled Tom to the ground, getting grazed in the process. Tom had been hit in the shoulder, letting out a yell that drew Steve's attention.  
Piper blew up two of the demons, while Christopher telekinetically sent one back to its source. Cole meanwhile pulled Bianca to the ground, barely avoiding getting hit, and landing next to Tom and Julian. They hardly had time to get back to their feet when more orbs appeared. Silas, Odin and Elenia had to duck as more fireballs flew at the group. Christopher pulled Piper down, narrowly avoiding a fireball to the head.  
Everyone waited a moment before trying to stand up again. The Ashon were standing still, fireballs in hand, waiting for any more interruptions. As everyone finally got to their feet and looked around, the Elders noticed the injured and moved to heal them. Elenia kneeled next to Nicki and Odin went to Tom. While he healed the young man's shoulder, Tom looked over at Steve. His eyes had gone red now, burning with anger and hatred. Piper saw this, too, and called for Leo.

& & & & &

"I really need to talk to Piper and Paige. You don't have any idea where Piper could have gone?" Phoebe asked, pacing around the room. Leo had just finished putting Hope to bed, while Phoebe nervously paced the room. He could tell something was bothering her. He picked up Christopher then, and moved to put him to bed as well.  
"No, I don't. I left her in the living room with Bianca, Chris and Cole. Why? What's wrong?" Leo asked. Christopher, obviously not ready to go to bed just yet, started fussing.  
"Well, I've spent all afternoon looking for something in the library at Magic School. And I came across something. Something bad. And..." The look on Leo's face just then changed in a way that Phoebe stopped mid-sentence. She knew he was hearing Piper's call. "What is it?"  
"Piper. She needs our help. Now!" he said. He'd just finally gotten Christopher down. Wyatt had hopped into his own bed, and was waiting to be tucked in. Leo leaned down and tucked him in quickly, kissing him on the head and telling him to go to bed, before leaving the room. "We need Paige," he told Phoebe as they descended the stairs.

& & & & &

Paige and Kyle were laughing as they entered the kitchen, finding it was getting a little cold outside, and hoping to finish their date in her room. They'd barely placed the dishes on the counter when Phoebe and Leo came in looking troubled.  
"What is it?" Paige asked, all hope for an uninterrupted night gone.  
"We have to go. Piper needs us," Phoebe said coming to stand next to her little sister.  
"But Piper's..." Paige began.  
"At Golden Gate Park with the others," Leo finished for her. Her face dropped. The last time she'd seen Piper, she was just picking up the dishes from dinner.  
"Kyle, can you please watch the kids?" Phoebe asked, as she wrapped her arm around Paige's.  
"Sure. Of course," he said, feeling down that they wouldn't finish their date, but also worried about Piper and the others. "Oh wait! Here, take my jacket," he said, then took off his jacket and gave it to Paige.  
"Thanks," she said, then she and Leo orbed away with Phoebe.

& & & & &

Everyone was now staring at Steve, horrified. No one had any idea what to do. Just then more orbs appeared and Paige, Phoebe and Leo materialized. The Ashon let their fireballs loose again, making everyone duck. But Paige used her power to deflect one and sent it back at another Ashon.  
"No!" Christopher, Nicki, Elenia and Tom yelled at the same time. Christopher used his power to deflect that fireball and send it into another demon. Paige, Phoebe and Leo looked at him, confused. The head Ashon smiled at all of them then, and with a signal, the demon clan shimmered away, leaving everyone in shock.  
"What was that about?" Paige asked Christopher, somewhat angrily. Everyone got back to their feet, facing the spot where the demons had been, Nicki leaning on Elenia. Paige waited impatiently for Christopher to answer her, pulling Kyle's jacket a little tighter around herself.  
Christopher took a deep breath before replying: "You almost killed Steve."

& & & & &

_Meanwhile in the future...  
_Chris lay in a bed, the blanket wrapped around him. He lay on his back and looked up to the ceiling. After Wyatt and him had had that talk, the situation between them turned back to the brotherly banter he had become used to while his brother was in the past. And that was a relieve, really. He had worried a lot about the distance he had felt between them earlier. It had felt wrong and it so didn't fit to the things Wyatt had told him about his older self just half a year ago. Whatever was going on, he knew he would do everything to correct this. But he still wasn't really sure what had made him act like he seemingly would do...  
While he still watched the dark ceiling his mind drifted on to what happened after the brothers had finished their work. Chris had suggested that they could follow Wyatt's earlier idea and make a tour through the house. _"And when you're with me I can't get lost,"_ Chris had said, making his brother laugh heartily.  
And the first surprise he had found right on the start of their tour. When Chris opened the door to the attic there was a small hallway with three doors...  
_"Huh? What happened to this place...? Where is the book?" Chris asked looking at his brother confused.  
Wyatt just grinned: "Go ahead!" Chris did and opened the middle door which was on the other end of the hallway. There it was, the attic as he knew it, just a little smaller.  
"Wow," he muttered looking around. The table with the scrying map, the caldron, the shelf with the ingredients it was all there and it was all in great order... And the book lay on its place by the window as usual.  
"See, everything is where it's supposed to be..." Wyatt said gesturing around.  
Chris nodded, then he asked:" Who's the one keeping everything this clean?"  
Now the twice blessed winced: "Prisca... even mom gets scared when our sister starts to rant when someone leaves things not in its right place."  
"Really?" Chris asked laughing.  
Wyatt nodded. "With a bit of luck, you'll find out yourself in the next days..."  
Chris turned serious at this. "Sorry, but I hope I won't stay that long..." And when he saw Wyatt's sad face he added: "I mean, don't get me wrong, it's nice here, but... It's not where I belong."  
"I know," his brother replied, "But I hope fate will give me some time to show you the wonderful future you've built for all of us..."  
_At this Chris could do nothing but nod. Then he was curious to where those other doors would lead. So they went back and Chris first tried the door to their left. But before he could push down the handle Wyatt hold him back...  
_"I would knock first," the blond man said with a smirk.  
Chris did and a moment later he heard the voice of his wife, well her older version, saying he could enter. So he did. Behind that door was a small room which contained not more then a double bed and a crib and a small sideboard on which Liam laid while his mother was busy with changing his diapers.  
"Hey you two," Bianca greeted while closing the sleeper and picking the boy up to her arms. "What are you doing here?"  
"Oh nothing... just giving Mr. Past here a tour through the house," Wyatt said smiling.  
Chris didn't react to that comment he just looked at her confused and asked: "Don't tell me we live on this small space, what happened to our apartment at the school?"  
Bianca just smiled at him while she tucked Liam into bed. Then she explained: "We still live there... But even in the past we spend many nights here. And with this family constantly growing we build those rooms up here..." And when Chris still looked confused she added: "View them as guest rooms. We have this one here, and the one on the other side contains two bunk beds for the twins and the boys."_  
Chris just had frowned at this still confused, but then nodded anyway.  
He then had inspected the other room and had the chance to see his kids who where already half asleep and whish them good night again. Usually they wouldn't be at the manor since it was a casual week day and they all had school the next morning. But with past-Chris being in the future, they all wanted to be close to him as long as they could.  
The next stop Wyatt and Chris had made on the first floor. The kids room and the guestroom where now occupied by Prisca, Patty and Nicki, while his mom and dad and Paige and Kyle still lived in the same rooms like in the time he came from. Also the ground floor hadn't changed much. Sure there was some new furniture but the rooms still were used in the same way like in the past. The only new thing was that small bathroom which was built in the corner of the living room, behind Cole's office.  
But that left Chris with a question...  
_"And where is your bedroom? And where sleeps Christopher... and Jim???" he asked wondering.  
Wyatt just grinned and let him into the dinning room, and there to a door which he had noticed before but didn't have the chance to ask. But the older one now just went over there and opened it, revealing a stairway that led downwards.  
Chris looked at his brother with a smirk. "The basement?"  
Wyatt nodded: "Yepp... the only place where boys can be boys." He winked at his brother and then went ahead explaining: "We moved the entrance form the kitchen to the dinning room since mom got a little pissed that we stole all the food from the fridge at night... She said it was just too easy for us, with the stairs leading right to the fridge, you know...?"  
_Chris had laughed at this, as he imagined his brothers sneak in to the kitchen at night. They had together made their way down the stairs and Wyatt then had showed him Christopher's room where he should sleep that night. Then the blonde man had said good night to go to bed on his own. Chris had stood in the doorway to Christopher's room for a moment unsure what to do. It somehow felt wrong to be in his brother's room without his permission. But then again, it was Christopher's fault that he was there in the future at all. And he wouldn't look through his stuff, he just wanted to sleep. And maybe he would borrow some clothes the next day. But right that moment he just had felt tired. So he had went to the small bathroom (which really was a boy's bathroom, from the chaotic look of things) to get ready for bed.  
And now he was lying there, in his brother's room, which was really cozy and nice looking, and tried to get some sleep. But all he had experienced through the day made this a really hard task.  
'God, I'll have 6 kids,' he thought in wonder, still not really getting his mind to understand that. And the next moment he regretted that, when he would be home again, he wouldn't be able to tell this to anyone. He had to keep all he saw as secret - damn the future consequences... but he knew that this was important. And he would do it, because for nothing in this world he would risk this wonderful future.  
Right that moment, there was a light knock on the door. Chris sat up in the bed, switched on the light on the nightstand and called: "Yeah?"  
A moment later the door opened a little and the head of Jim appeared in the gab. "Can I come in for a second?" he asked.  
Chris smiled. "Sure," he said and moved a little aside so that his cousin could sit on the bed, too. He liked that young man, he looked a lot like Kyle, but he definitely had Paige's eyes... 'And her humor,' he thought. "So what can I do for you?" he asked then.  
Jim took a deep breath before he spoke: "Well, I wanted to ask... could we maybe spend some time together tomorrow afternoon?"  
Now Chris frowned: "Sure... why not?"  
The teen smiled at this. Then explained: "I just would like to spend some time with you, without the rest... I mean, Wyatt knows you, and Christopher knows you, too... and..." By now the young man was red like a tomato. "... I would like to know you, too."  
Chris couldn't help but smile. Wyatt had told them that he was the family hero, but this... this was really cute. So he hugged his cousin closely and then ruffled his hair before he said: "Sure we can do that... Why don't you show me a little bit of future San Francisco tomorrow... what do you think? Because actually I'd like to know you, too."  
Jim smiled brightly at this: "That's a great idea! I'd love to do that!"  
"Good, then it's settled," the Elder-witch replied happily. "But I guess now it's time for bed, you have school tomorrow."  
Jim nodded at this and gave Chris another hug before he said good night.  
When the teen had closed the door, Chris switched the light of again and lay down with a sigh. Tomorrow would be great, he was sure of that. And while he slowly drifted of to sleep he wondered what his past family was doing at the moment. Just for some reason there was one thing he was sure about: They all would be fine...

* * *

_(Chapter 11 written by Chrissy.W.x and Kirianna Ledräen)_

* * *

_**Alright... Yeah, I know... A cliffhanger. Sorry for that. But the story will continue soon, when Story 14 will start on Friday June 26th. Thanks for all your support and we hope to see you again here in three weeks.** _


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